New Hampshire
by VeronicaBarnes
Summary: The night Alexis and Julian met in New Hampshire and beyond - from Julian's perspective.
1. Chapter 1

Julian's mind raced as the steaming hot water hit his body. So far, nothing had quieted his thoughts over the past few days. He had a family. A daughter and a grandson he found only by chance, when he went on his own volition to be swabbed as a possible donor for a dying little boy. Something about the boy's mother and grandmother tugged at his heart. If anyone else had spoken to him like those two had, he would have walked away without another thought. For some reason, from the moment he met them, he could not get Samantha Morgan and Alexis Davis out of his mind. Alexis had told him off at the Floating Rib, and the next thing he knew he was stepping off of the elevator at the hospital to get swabbed as a potential donor.

He was shocked, almost rendered speechless when it turned out he was a perfect match. The boy's grandmother gratefully hugged him when he reassured them that he wouldn't have been tested if he hadn't been willing to donate the marrow. He had done research and knew what the procedure entailed. He had been willing to donate to Danny Morgan before he found out that the sick boy was his grandson. He had said more prayers since finding his family than he had in the previous years of his life combined. He had been praying for the boy before he found out, but since finding out that boy and his mother were his grandson and daughter, every waking thought seemed to be about them, usually ended in a prayer, "Please let this work. Please don't let my grandson die. Please don't make my daughter bury her little boy."

He wasn't that sure that he would have thought to take the time to go to General Hospital to be swabbed if the boy's grandmother hadn't told him off for bumping the story off the front page. He had noticed Alexis the moment he stepped into the Floating Rib. She looked so familiar, but not from his previous life in Port Charles. When he found out she was Samantha Morgan's mother he thought maybe she looked familiar because of the resemblance to her daughter. The mother and daughter duo were quite honestly two of the most stunningly beautiful women he had ever laid eyes on – both were breathtaking. Since finding out their connection to him, he had decided his daughter and her mother were the two most gorgeous females God had ever put in the world. And his grandson would break hearts one day. Just like the night their daughter had been conceived, Alexis's beauty caught his attention immediately when he saw her at the bar of the Floating Rib. He had a hard time taking his eyes off of her.

His mind flashed back to a night over 3 decades before when he and his buddies went out to blow off steam. He had noticed her as soon as he walked into McCoy's, a beautiful girl hiding behind make-up. One of his psychology classes had covered the subject in a discussion about how people hide weaknesses, and one thing he found interesting was make-up being used as a mask to hide scars - both physical or emotional scars. Under all of the make-up he was sure this girl was flawless, so he knew she was hiding some kind of emotional pain. His father had taught him the importance of reading people, of reading a room.

He saw a girl trying to appear older and he also saw the way men twice her age were leering at her. She looked very out of place, and she had no idea how much out of place she looked – like seeing a tulip sticking out of the ground and surrounded by snow. She was drinking in a bar surrounded by much older men, and the night might not end well for her if someone didn't look out for her. He and his friends decided they were going to look out for her, if any of the old men approached her, they would step in. That's when he caught her staring at him. As soon as Julian made eye contact with her, his decision was made. He wouldn't wait for trouble to find the girl. He would keep trouble away from the girl.

He walked over and took the seat next to her at the bar. "My name is Julian. Could I buy you a drink?" She had accepted the offer and he had slipped the bartender a 20 to go light on the alcohol in the girl's drinks for rest of the night. He could tell she was an inexperienced drinker and he guessed that other than Communion wine, or a glass of wine at family holiday functions this was her first time drinking and certainly her first time in a place like this. He would keep her talking to keep her drinking to a minimum.

"So what is someone as pretty as you doing in this bar all by yourself? Did you and your boyfriend have a fight?"

Over the next couple of hours they talked. He learned that her name was Alexis Davidovitch and she was an orphan. She told him she had been sent to school by her uncle who had taken her in when her parents died. She was young when they died and had no memory of either her mother or her father. She told him stories of growing up lonely and mistreated on the island. She never said she was mistreated physically, but he knew in his gut he knew to read between the lines. He asked her if she would like to go outside to get some air.

They walked outside and the cold air hit him hard. He took his jacket off and placed it around her shoulders. He took her hand and they stood talking for what seemed like hours. She seemed so sheltered and lonely. From what she had told him abut her life, he knew she was probably different than any other girl or woman he knew. He liked this girl, she made him laugh. She was smart, not at all vapid like most girls her age. He told her he would like to see her again, when she could get away from the school but he didn't want her to get into trouble. He knew how strict that particular boarding school was. He asked her if she wanted him to drive her back to school right then and she had told him no, that she was having the most fun she had ever had. He told her he was having fun too and he could no longer fight the urge and he kissed her. As he pulled back from the kiss she was smiling, the kind of smile that lit up like a star. He noticed her shaking and asked her if she would like to go sit in his car, they could turn on the heat and listen to music, be comfortable without the noise from the bar. She told him yes and he led her to the car.

As he started the car so the heat would warm her up, the radio station the car was tuned to started playing, "Bad Girls" and Alexis squealed "I love this song! It's my favorite! This has to be a sign!" Her joy at something so simple was contagious and he laughed, then kissed her again.

He wasn't sure how many times they had kissed or how long, but he knew they needed to stop. There was no doubt in his mind this girl was a virgin and he did not need to take her virginity in his car, especially in the parking lot of a bar. He tried to stop himself, even told Alexis, "We need to stop. We shouldn't do this here, like this, not now"

Then she had looked into his eyes with those eyes of hers that he was sure could get him to do anything and said, "I don't want to stop," and had kissed him again. He began pulling her skirt up, and trying to unbutton her blouse, and her felt her tugging his shirt over his head and her shaky hands on the waistband of his jeans. When he finally gathered his thoughts, he pulled away from her kiss and asked, "You've never done this before, have you?" She pulled her eyes away from his and shyly shook her head no, and in a voice so quiet he had barely heard her, she said, "But I want to, with you," and had kissed him again. He could no more tell her no or push her away than he could walk to the moon. He wasn't in the habit of taking a girl's virginity. He promised himself and her that this would not be a one time thing. He would woo her, a good old-fashioned courting, the kind his father talked about having with his mother. They would go to dinner Saturday night if she could get away from school. And all he could think about in that moment was her, how she felt to his touch. He stopped and looked at her and said, "If you want to stop please tell me now."

As soon as he said it, she had kissed him again, and there had been a knock on the window and one of his friends had said they were leaving. The friend, he couldn't remember now which one, would not go away and so Julian pulled away from the kiss and told the friend to go away, he was going to take Alexis home, and he would be home after that. His friends walked away, and he knew he have to lie to them later to protect the reputation of the girl underneath him. He looked at Alexis again and said, "If we don't stop now, I won't be able to stop." She answered him with a kiss.

The water in the shower was turning cooler, snapping Julian out of his walk down memory lane. That night in New Hampshire, in that parking lot, in his car, Alexis and he had conceived their daughter. He had always wanted a family. And since he had found them he had become determined to tell them the truth. They deserved to know. Alexis needed to know that he had looked for her. That he had called and the school wouldn't let her speak to him. He found out that she had gone back to Europe from a friend's sister who had been a classmate of hers at the boarding school. He had thought abut her off and on over the years, especially the first couple of years after their night together. Then he had finished school and moved on with his life. Always wanting a family, but knowing it was out of his reach. He had thought he wanted to marry Cheryl Stansbury but his father forbade it, she didn't fit in with them - too lowbrow and common. But now he had a family, the family he should have had for the past 3 decades. He wasn't there for his daughter as she grew up without him, but he would make damn sure she knew he was there for her now. He would be there for Danny too. Alexis had peaked his interest the way she had all those years before, and he could tell by the way she blushed and became so nervously flustered around him, especially when he got too close, or when she walked in on him in nothing but his sports briefs that he had peaked her curiosity too. He would eventually tell her the truth. Not because he had to do so, but he wanted to tell her the truth. He had almost told her the truth a handful of times already.

They had a bond she didn't realize. He wasn't above using their grandson to win her heart and to get his rightful place in her life. He wanted his family by the time they rang in 2014, but preferably before that. He wanted to go with Sam and Alexis to take Danny trick-or-treating. He wanted to sit at a table on Thanksgiving and tell them he was thankful they were in his life. He wanted to decorate Christmas trees and see Danny's eyes light up with wonder. He wanted to spoil his grandson rotten on Christmas morning, and every day after. He wanted to read bedtime stories. He wanted to take Danny to the zoo, and to hockey games, and to Disney World. He wanted to do everything with Danny he had be unable to do with Sam. He had over 3 decades to make up for missing.

He was used to getting what he wanted. He wanted to know why it had taken hypnosis for Alexis to remember his name. His gut told him that the miserable family who had mistreated her growing up, had punished her severely when they found out she was pregnant. He closed his eyes and willed away his tears at the thought of a pregnant, 16-year-old Alexis curled up, miserable, scared, and alone. Damn, why hadn't he snuck onto the campus of that boarding school and found her when they kept refusing to allow him to speak to her on the phone? Why didn't he ask his father for help back then? His father loved playing the hero, especially to vulnerable females.

He was a patient man, but he might quickly run out of patience if he felt his family was threatened. The next time Alexis said, "I wish there was something I could do to thank you for giving my grandson your bone marrow," he might just respond, "Have dinner with me." He would tear down the walls she had so carefully built around herself, even if he had to tear down them down one brick at a time.

He had to sleep now, the procedure to give Danny the marrow taken from him, the marrow that would save Danny's life, was scheduled for tomorrow morning and he wanted to have his mind sharp. He had cleared his schedule, he said he did so in order to recover in peace, but in all honestly he had had cleared his schedule so he could make sure Sam and Alexis took care of themselves and to monitor Danny's recovery. Whatever they needed or wanted would be theirs. He had never realized how much he had wanted a family until he found out he had one, until they were standing in front of him. There were 3 people in this world he would kill or die for, and he intended to make sure they knew they were the most important people in the world to him. The thought that Alexis might hate him when she learned the truth about him, gave him pause. He wondered what she and Sam would think when they discovered that he had known the minute Alexis told him about the night their daughter was conceived, that he was Sam's father. His gut told him they might be angry at him, but then they would look at Danny and know that he had done what he had to do to save that boy. Sam and Danny would be his family no matter what, but as the mother of his daughter, Alexis was part of his family forever too.

Since finding out he had been a perfect match for Danny, Sam lit up like a Christmas tree when she saw Derek Wells. She looked at him like he was her hero, the way a daughter should be able to look at her father. He wondered if she had felt abandoned by her father, by him, her entire life. He wondered what her first word had been, when she took her first step, who her best friend was when she was 8, and what she wanted to be when she grew up. He would know all about his daughter, he was determined that she and her mother know he would never have abandoned them. He would have risked angering his father to be there for Alexis during her pregnancy. He would have been there every day of his daughter's life. He thought about his father and knew while Victor wouldn't have been thrilled his son had gotten a 16-year-old pregnant, but he never would have allowed his first grandchild to be raised by anyone other than her parents. He knew Victor would have eventually grown to love Alexis as the mother of his first grandchild. Victor would have doted on Samantha. Julian Jerome would never have been caught up in that mess with Duke Lavery or in his family's business. He certainly never would have been forced to end Olivia's miserable life.

He could be could be many things depending on the situation. He could be charming when the situation called for it, and this situation certainly did. Most single men his age and stature would have a pretty young thing on his arm, but dating women younger than his daughter, or the same age as Sam held no appeal for him. He actually found he thought stomach turning. No, his daughter's mother was the woman he wanted. He wanted Alexis by his side and in his bed. He wanted to be the man his daughter and grandson needed him to be. The boy's father might be dead, but his grandfather was very much alive and was very much determined to be in Danny's life. No, he was very determined to be in Alexis, Sam, and Danny's lives.


	2. Chapter 2

Julian woke up in a cold sweat. The same nightmare had haunted him and had claimed his once easy sleep for weeks. It always started off the same, as a pleasant dream about the night his daughter was conceived. When the dream stayed pleasant, he dreamed about them being a family. But when the dream turned into a nightmare, it always included the punishment Alexis must have gotten because she was pregnant.

Julian had done his research on his family. He knew Alexis Davis had once been Alexis Davidovitch, but now he knew she had been given the name Natasha at birth. Her mother had been murdered in front of her. While Alexis had been raised as a poor cousin, she was actually the product of an affair Mikkos Cassadine had with an opera singer. Helena's hatred of Alexis was infamous. Helena and her older son, Stavros were psychotic and cruel, often hurting people as a hobby.

The minute he learned she was a Cassadine and raised on the island he knew he had been right. A young, pregnant Alexis had been tortured, at least mentally and emotionally. She had been forced to give up her baby girl. No, she had been forced to give up their baby girl. His blood ran cold imagining her receiving punishment at the Cassadines' hands. The nightmares about what the Cassadines may have done to Alexis and how Sam had grown up being raised by those McCall people haunted him.

Enough time had passed for the shock at the knowledge that he was a father and grandfather had worn off. He had been able to do a little digging into the lives of his daughter and her mother. It broke his heart to think about what the two women had gone through in their lives. They would hate him when they found out who he was, that he could have prevented decades of abuse, neglect, and suffering if he had just run away with the girl he had met that night instead of dropping Alexis off at school with a kiss and a, "I promise, I will call you."

Where the hell two teenagers would have run to that night he wasn't sure, but when his dreams were happy, that was exactly what they did. It was getting harder and harder to not to tell them the truth. But now he knew it wasn't just something he could just do with, "Oh by the way, don't tell anyone, but my name used to be Julian Jerome. I went to school in New Hampshire and I had sex in a car in the parking lot of a bar named McCoy's with a girl named Alexis in 1979."

He needed to tell them. He wanted to tell them. That was the source of his greatest frustration. If not for that damned Olivia Falconari, he would have told Alexis he thought he was Sam's father the night she told him about the night their daughter was conceived. He was beginning to think that every woman name Olivia, at least in Port Charles, was certifiable. He had almost told them again the day in Danny's hospital room after he held Danny for the first time. He had no idea how or why he had stopped himself after holding that precious boy.

Meanwhile he had been pursuing Alexis very cautiously and carefully. Amazingly enough, he was doing so with their daughter's help. As Danny was recovering and getting healthier, he and the Davis women had gotten closer. He had been arranging meals for them – both while they were still at the hospital around the clock with Danny, and once he was released and they made their way to the lake house. One night Sam, after dinner had been cleaned up and Danny had been put to bed for the night, while they were on the deck enjoying the cool, crisp fall night. Alexis went in to make sure Molly's homework was done and that she was off the phone with Rafe, that was when Sam asked Derek what his intentions were towards her mother.

He looked at his adult daughter and in his mind he could see her as a very little girl. God, he had missed so much. It was as if a little girl, his little girl, was asking him if he wanted to date her mom. He cleared his throat and asked her what she meant. She paused for a moment and said, "I was so wrapped up in Danny I didn't notice at first. But I see the way you look at my mother. And she would kill me for saying this, but I see the way she looks at you. I owe you everything. You saved my son. But I am asking you for one more thing. If your intentions towards my mother are not honorable, please leave her alone. She has been through enough because of men for one lifetime."

Julian's heart swelled with pride and love at his daughter's protectiveness of her mother. He told Sam he was a very old-fashioned guy. He wanted to woo her mother. He told her it had been years since a woman had captured his heart and mind and made him think the way Alexis Davis had. He had nothing but good intentions towards her mother. He thought to himself - my intentions might not be pure, but they are good.

Sam had looked like the proverbial cat that caught the canary. She was going to help him. She could tell him what Alexis liked and what she didn't like. For the first time ever, she was going to actually like the man pursuing her mother. She was going to help him win her mother's heart. Sam squealed and hugged him like a little girl hugging her father after he had come home from a long business trip. At that moment, Alexis had walked out to join them.

"Excuse me. I didn't mean to interrupt," Alexis said quietly.

"You aren't. I was just thanking Derek again for everything he's done. I guess my Superman doesn't wear a cape. If you two will excuse me, I'm going to sneak into Danny's room and watch him sleep for a few minutes, then I'm going to bed to dream about my little boy growing up to love fast cars and single barrel bourbon. Good night you two," Sam told them, winking at Derek, and hugging her mother.

After Sam had gone in, Derek watched as Alexis looked at her hands. She sighed and then said, "Sam has been through a lot, especially in the past few years. She and Dr. Clay have gotten close. They did not get along when they first met. That mess with Rafe. Then Danny got sick and they were around each other so much, that they became friends. They are trying to see if they should take the next step and start dating. You and Silas are her heroes. It is confusing enough for her to have the doctor who saved her son's life express a romantic interest in her. She doesn't need to be confused by the man who saved her son's life with his bone marrow. Whatever your intentions are towards my daughter…"

Derek interrupted, "I can assure you my intentions toward your daughter are not at all romantic. I want to be a friend to both Sam and Danny. I have no romantic interest in a woman who is young enough to be my daughter. Her mother, on the other hand, I find absolutely fascinating."


	3. Chapter 3

_Thanks for all of the feedback. This is my first attempt at fanfiction. I almost didn't post the first chapter and was not going to continue it beyond that, but the reviews made me realize that I am not the only one who loves this potential pairing.  
_

* * *

Julian sat at his desk staring at the computer screen, a picture of his family – Alexis, Sam, Danny, and Molly - as he talked to his daughter and got her opinion of how to extend an invitation to Alexis. Sam was giddy at the news that he planned to invite Alexis to go to New York City for the night in a couple of weeks to be his date to a party with other newspaper publishers. They would spend the night at a hotel, but he wanted to be sure Alexis realized he would reserve 2 rooms. He wanted her to know he did not expect her to share a room or a bed with him until she was ready to do so.

His romance with Alexis had been progressing slowly, but steadily – slow and steady wins the race - and he allowed himself to remember that night on her deck when he first broached the subject of romance. He smiled as he remembered their conversation.

"I can assure you my intentions toward your daughter are not at all romantic. I want to be a friend to both Sam and Danny. I have no romantic interest in a woman who is young enough to be my daughter. Her mother, on the other hand, I find absolutely fascinating."

Julian watched as Alexis blushed at his words, her mouth agape in surprise, the moon lighting up her face. She finally managed to stammer out, "What? You find me fascinating? I don't know if I believe that."

As so often since first meeting her in the Floating Rib as Derek Wells, he had to fight the urge to kiss her. He looked at her and said, "Alexis, you are an incredible woman – you are brilliant, funny, and stunningly beautiful. If I made a list of all of your attributes, we would be out here all night. You fascinate me and I want to get to know you better. As much as I love being around Sam and Danny and Molly, I would like to have lunch or dinner, just the two of us. Any time, any place of your choosing."

He smiled as he remembered their first lunch date. It had lasted for a couple of hours and had ended with a chaste kiss on her cheek, and a date made for dinner alone a few nights later. They saw each other daily, usually they were surrounded by Sam, Danny, Molly, Rafe, and Silas. There was a lot of laughter in those times and he always was left wondering how much he had missed in the past 33 years. A few of nights after their lunch date, Molly was out with Rafe, while Silas and Sam had gone to dinner and a movie, leaving Alexis and Derek to babysit Danny. Danny had fallen asleep, exhausted from playing after his bath, and he carried the sleeping boy to his crib with Alexis carrying Danny's favorite blanket fresh out of the dryer. After they put Danny to bed, standing beside Danny's crib, Derek and Alexis shared their first kiss.

That first kiss hadn't been the frenzied kiss of two teenagers in a car as their hormones raged. This kiss was soft and sweet. As much as Derek wanted to pick Alexis up and carry her out of Danny's room and down the hall to her room, now was not the time or the place. It was too soon. As they pulled away from the kiss, Alexis smiled and quietly said, "I was beginning to think you were never gong to do that. I was beginning to think you were just using me for my microwave popcorn skills."

The rest of the evening was spent sitting on the sofa, her head on his shoulder, in quiet conversation, the two of them occasionally kissing until the girls came home. He had fit into their lives seamlessly just as they had fit into his. And that was driving Ava mad.

Between his closeness to his daughter and Alexis, and Sam's blossoming relationship with Silas, Ava had been seething. He had to draw a red line and remind Ava of the fate of the last sister who had crossed him, that anything that hurt any member of the Davis family would be a declaration of war. Julian Jerome was the only thing Ava feared. He just hoped Ava remembered that the line separating Derek Wells from Julian Jerome could disappear instantly, so could she.

He looked up from the screen to see Alexis looking at him from the doorway.

"Derek, where in the world were you just now? I said your name several times and you were so intent on whatever is on that screen, that you didn't even hear me. Is everything okay?"

Derek smiled at Alexis as he stood up and walked over to greet her with a kiss. "Everything is fine. Just thinking about a story one of my writers told me about. He is out 'chasing leads' as they say. And what do I owe the pleasure of seeing my favorite woman in Port Charles this afternoon? Is everything okay with you, the girls, and Danny?"

"Oh we're fine. I didn't want Molly to blindside you with this tonight, so I wanted to warn you that she is going to ask you if there is any way she can be an intern for you. Her experience with Connie was a nightmare, and her tainted view of the publishing world is beginning to lose some of its tarnish thanks to you. I'll understand if you don't want a teenaged girl in your offices, and I wanted to give you an opportunity to come up with a reason to say no when she asks you tonight."

Derek smiled. Molly Lansing was a talented writer. Just like her mother and oldest sister, he had a hard time even thinking of telling her no, but if Alexis wanted him to refuse Molly's request, he would.

"Let me guess. You are concerned that she'll become so focused on what is happening here, that she might neglect her schoolwork. Alexis, if you want me to tell her no, I will. But I promise you, if she interns here, I will make sure she is only here 2 or 3 afternoons a week. The minute you see her school work slipping, if it starts slipping, I'll tell her the internship is over. You know I have a hard time saying, 'No,' to any of the Davis females. As much as I cannot wait to meet Kristina, I am sure by the end of the first evening around her, I'll find her as impossible to refuse as I find the rest of you."

Alexis smiled. She honestly could not wait to introduce her middle child to the man she was falling in love with, the man who had saved Danny. She had shared with Derek in one of their quiet nights together how much it pained her to know that Kristina felt like Sonny loved his sons more than his daughter, that she felt like he did not value his her as much as his sons. Kristina loved her life now away from the danger that being Sonny's daughter caused her. Kristina had wished often that she could come to Port Charles without her father ever finding out, so he wouldn't have to deal with his narcissism. Now might be the perfect chance for that to happen – there was a rift between Morgan and Michael that had turned into a rift between Sonny and Michael when Michael found out Sonny had KiKi's true paternity a secret because Morgan had asked him to do so. The rift had gotten so deep that Michael had come to Alexis to ask her, as his half-sister's mother, about the process to legally change his last name to Quartermaine. She was sorry Sonny's world was falling apart, but she was glad Kristina was far away and not in the middle of it.

Since the evening promised to be centered on Molly's internship, he decided now might be the perfect time to bring up the trip to New York to Alexis. "How would you feel about going to New York with me? I have a publishing event in the city in a couple of weeks. I would love for you to accompany me. I have talked to Sam and she said she would be happy to watch Molly. And so you don't think me presumptuous, I will reserve two separate hotel rooms for the night. It is a black tie event and it is in 2 weeks from Saturday. We could make a weekend of it, or just go on Saturday for the event and come back on Sunday. Your choice."


	4. Chapter 4

"Derek, I cannot wait for you to see her in the dress we picked out for the event on Saturday night. She is stunning in it. She wanted it to be perfect. You should have heard her going on and on about her daughters and her grandson conspiring with you against her. The entire time she was grinning from ear to ear. She is really excited about this trip. I just wish I could see your face when you see her all dressed up!"

Julian could not remember ever being happier. His daughter was in his life and he was falling head over heels in love with her mother. His grandson was on the road to recovery, getting stronger every day. He was taking Alexis to New York City for the weekend. She had agreed to go for the night while in his office that afternoon, but by the time dinner with the Davis women was over, Molly and Sam had somehow convinced her to go for the entire weekend – leaving Friday morning and coming back early Monday morning. What Alexis didn't know, at least not yet, was that Derek had arranged for Kristina to come into the city on Sunday to spend the day with her mother and to finally meet Derek face-to-face, not waiting until the Thanksgiving break from Wesleyan. Derek had extended her an invitation for the entire weekend with her mother, but Kristina had a paper to write and a boyfriend to watch play football on Saturday. She and her boyfriend would come into the city on Sunday morning.

He was eagerly waiting having some much needed alone time with Alexis. They were getting closer, his plans for Sonny were well underway. He just needed to find a way to tell Alexis he was Julian, the Julian who had fathered her first born. He wasn't sure how to tell her, or when to tell her. Then there was the matter of Sam. He needed to tell her the truth too. He had told the truth to Danny many times, including during their male bonding during Alexis and Sam's shopping expedition. It was a good thing his grandson's vocabulary was limited to a few words, though maybe the truth would be easier to hear coming from Danny. While Danny was a great listener, he wasn't so much on giving advice. Julian's mind flashbacked to that afternoon as the two bonded while watching football, "What do you think Danny? Do you think I should tell your mother first? Or your grandmother? Or I should tell them together?"

"Tell them what?" asked Molly from the doorway.

Julian decided to mix the truth with a lie and told Molly, "Well, I was just telling your nephew here what a good job you have been doing. And I was trying to decide whether to run it by Sam first, or to ask your mother, or to ask them together what they thought about you not being just an intern, but writing a piece for _Crimson_ every month. We need to attract younger readers, new subscribers. And I thought maybe a talented young writer could help us do that. You would get paid, of course, and it would be very impressive on college applications."

Julian was fairly certain that the high-pitched squeal that bit of news elicited from Molly had gotten every dog within a 10 mile radius barking and howling. He delighted in seeing the young girl's excitement over every aspect of running a newspaper and international fashion magazine.

Between saving Danny, her internship with him, and him talking her mother into allowing her to have a paid job as a teen contributor to _Crimson_, Derek Wells had quickly become Molly's favorite man in Port Charles.

He thought about that day as he watched Molly working at her desk on her first article for _Crimson_. She had a day off from school and had chosen to come into the office to run some ideas past him for her first article. He told her that he trusted her judgment about what girls her age and a few years older would be interested in, and reminded her that he might not be the best person to judge what teen girls would be interested in since he had never been a teen girl. All he could think about was that he and Alexis would be leaving for New York in a couple of hours. Away from Port Charles, he would be able to focus solely on Alexis.

The flight to New York had been uneventful and he and Alexis had sipped on champagne and talked about their plans for the next couple of days - relaxing, maybe a little shopping for the girls and Danny, but most of all just being able to talk and spend time together with no work distractions, or interruptions from a crying baby, or door slamming dramatics from a teenaged girl.

He had decided that it was unfair to Alexis to allow himself to cross that line with her while there was still this secret between them. It was growing more and more difficult to kiss her good-night and go their separate ways. He could not remember ever wanting a woman he way he wanted her, needing someone the way he needed her. He had to tell Alexis the truth about who he was and their past before they shared a bed.

He smiled at the front desk clerk and said, "Derek Wells. Alexis Davis and I have two rooms reserved."

"Mr. Wells welcome to the Gramercy Park Hotel. Let me just look and see what the computer tells me. Oh goodness. It seems that we only have one room reserved for you. Is it possible the other room was reserved under your friend's name? Wait there is a notation here that someone called earlier in the week and canceled the second room."

Derek's patience with the clerk was beginning to wear thin. One of his biggest business pet peeves was someone in a business not admitting to a mistake. Now this clerk was attempting to say he had canceled the room. He looked at the name plate on the desk, "Look Mr. LeGrand, I can assure you, I did not call and change my reservation. Ms. Davis and I must have 2 rooms. Your computer is wrong."

Alexis came up beside him while the manager and the desk clerk tried to sort out the problem, "What's wrong? Is there a problem?"

Derek explained to her quietly that there had been a computer glitch and it appeared that he had canceled the reservation for one of the two rooms, when he had in fact not done so.

Alexis looked at him and said, "Derek, I found the reservation number on your desk. I called and changed the reservation."


	5. Chapter 5

Derek was stunned. How was it that this woman, the woman who had run from him after walking in on him in his underwear at the hospital, still had the ability to surprise him? There was no way he could share a bed with her and not touch her. He was simply not that strong. He prayed for divine intervention.

The manager called to him. The hotel was now convinced that they had made a mistake and put Alexis and him in a two-bedroom penthouse suite. Derek was in such shock from what Alexis told him, that he couldn't think, the only thing he could think to say was to simply thank the front desk clerk. The last thing any business needed was a man who ran a publishing empire, one that could easily print a bad review of their business in several publications around the world. Oh, the Gramercy Park Hotel would getting would be getting glowing reviews in every publication he owned.

After they entered the suite and the bellman had taken their bags to their respective bedrooms, Alexis looked around and said with a chuckle, "All of this space for just the two of us for two nights seems a little ridiculous. Derek, how on earth did we go from two rooms, to one room, to a two-bedroom penthouse suite?"

He smiled and said, "I guess they want to impress us. They must have realized with all of the newspapers and magazines I run, I could run a negative review of this place that would be read by millions. I am sure they are hoping for good reviews."

Alexis excused herself to freshen up before they went to explore. They had a dinner reservation at 8, leaving them plenty of time to explore the city Alexis called home for so many years before moving to Port Charles, come back to get ready for dinner, and still make their reservation.

Julian retreated to his own room in the suite, his head spinning. How many times had he started to tell Alexis and Sam the truth, only to be interrupted? How could he tell them now, after so many months had passed? How in the hell was he going to make it through the weekend and not sleep with Alexis? She had called and changed the reservation from two rooms to one room. That could only mean that she had decided it was time and she was ready to take the next step with him. There was no way he could sleep with her with this secret between them. That would turn him from the Davis women's knight in shining armor into a cad in one fell swoop.

The fact that she was going to be so close to him 24 hours a day, was going to make resisting her next to impossible. At least they had two separate bedrooms. He could fake an illness. He had to figure out how to tell her, how to tell Sam, and he had to figure it out soon.

This weekend might very well kill him, which might be an easier death than he would suffer at the hands of Sam and Alexis when he finally told them the truth. If he told her the truth now, there was no doubt she would get a car back to the airport, hop on a plane, and be back to Port Charles in no time. Their weekend would be ruined. Once again, his recently discovered family left him questioning everything he had ever known or thought he knew.

Alexis called the girls to let them know that she and Derek had arrived safely and were all checked-in, and then they set off to explore the city for a few hours. Before long, they found a café with outdoor seating that Alexis frequented many years ago to have a bite to eat a light lunch knowing their afternoon would be filled with walking and shopping and their dinner still hours away. They sat enjoying a bottle of their favorite wine and tapas while in quiet conversation, almost oblivious to throngs of people around them.

After their lunch they walked around the city hand–in-hand, shopping in stores only found in the city. He made a note of the things that made her eyes light up and planned to call the stores later and have them shipped to Port Charles. Though it was still a couple of months away, he was already mentally planning their first Christmas together, if his family was on speaking terms with him after he told them the truth. They found some cute things for Danny and the girls, books, and a gorgeous leather coat for Sam. So many times when he looked at Alexis, "For her price is far above rubies," came into his mind, and Derek had managed to be sneaky enough to buy a ruby bracelet he had seen Alexis admiring. Right under her nose, as she picked out charms for each of her daughters' charm bracelets, he paid the salesman and Alexis never noticed.

Alexis had learned that Derek had intended to spoil her, her girls, and Danny, and as long as he didn't buy Molly a car, she had no problem with a positive male influence doting on them. None of them had fathers who would do so, and Derek had stepped up as a surrogate grandfather to Danny and a good friend to her daughters. Even though he had yet to meet Kristina because of her school schedule, Alexis was positive he could have told anyone more about her middle daughter than Sonny ever could have. Derek had been delighted at the fact that over the past several weeks, he was often the only one who could get Danny to sleep when the little boy had played himself past the point of exhaustion. Danny seemed to be intent on making up for lost time playing while he was sick. Alexis had told Derek she was quite certain there were no toys for children Danny's age that he did not own, thanks in large part to Derek.

They arranged for their purchases to be delivered to their hotel and they began a leisurely walk back to the hotel themselves to prepare for their dinner date. When they entered the suite they were surprised to see a bottle of champagne chilling. The card on the champagne read, "We hope you have a wonderful time! We'll see you Monday. We love you! Molly, Kristina, Sam, and Danny."

They grinned at the girls' thoughtfulness, though they weren't sure if it had been Sam's idea or Molly's, but decided it didn't really matter. This weekend away for them had been almost as important to the girls as it had been for them. Julian wondered if it might be demeaning to refer to Samantha Morgan, a 33-year-old mother, as a "girl," but Alexis had told him over and over, that as Sam's mother, in her mind, even though Sam had been an adult when they had found each other, she would always be a little girl, her little girl.

They agreed to get ready for dinner, while the champagne continued to chill, and drink the champagne before they took the car they had requested to the restaurant for dinner. They retreated to their different bathrooms to shower and get dressed for their evening out, and Julian wondered if perhaps he should have planned for them to attend a play in addition to dinner. With an 8:00 reservation, that would give them too much alone time. Alone with the woman he loved and wanted in a gorgeous hotel suite with 2 enormous beds, soaking tubs, and a fireplace. If not for the secret between them, he would have already canceled their dinner reservation, ordered room service and not left the suite or gotten dressed until the Saturday night event they had to attend. He thought about drinking bourbon from the in-suite bar, but decided against it. Bourbon would likely cloud his judgment.

As Julian tied his tie, there was a knock on the suite's door, as the hotel staff delivered Alexis and his purchases from earlier in the day that had been delivered. He tipped the men who delivered them after they placed the bags on the table in the great room in the suite.

He didn't hear Alexis enter the room until she said, "Oh good! They've delivered our packages. Why don't you go ahead an open the champagne? I want to check to make sure we got everything."

He turned to see the most exquisite woman he had ever seen in his life, dressed in a red dress that emphasized all of her physical assets. Their daughter had not warned him about this dress. If this dress didn't rank a mention by Samantha, he might not survive seeing Alexis in the one Samantha had raved about her mother wearing. Good God, this weekend really might be the death of me, he thought

"Alexis, I'm not sure I have the words to tell you how gorgeous you look tonight, he said huskily as he popped open the champagne.

"Why thank you! You look very dashing yourself! On no! Derek, that little jewelry store where I bought the girls the charms for their bracelets put an extra box in our bag. They are going to have a very upset customer. We need to call in the morning to tell them they delivered it to us by mistake."

He walked over to her carrying two glasses of champagne. He handed her a glass and took the aforementioned box out of her hand, and kissed her. After they broke the kiss, he pressed his forehead to hers and whispered, "The jewelry store didn't make a mistake. I couldn't let my favorite Davis girl go home empty handed," and he opened the box to show her the bracelet.

"Oh Derek! It is beautiful, but it is too much. It's the first of three nights here and you have done nothing but spoil me."

"Alexis, when I was growing up, my father used to quote Proverbs 31:10 to me when discussing girls, 'Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies.' Every time I am around you, I am reminded of that quote."

Alexis stepped away with a tight smile and tears in her eyes and said, "Derek, I doubt a woman who has had 3 children by 3 different men, 2 of those children being results of one-night stands, would have been what your father would have considered 'a virtuous woman.' I mean honestly, until recently, I couldn't even remember the name of the man I gave my virginity to and who fathered my first born. And even then I had to be hypnotized. I believe that makes me more likely to be a guest on the _Maury Povich Show_ and less the subject of a biblical quote about being virtuous."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Julian stood there wondering what the hell had just happened. He had given the woman he loves, the mother of his daughter a bracelet as an expression of his love. And she was in tears comparing herself to someone on the _Maury Povich Show_. What in the hell had just happened? He had known there would be tears and anger when he told her the truth about who he really was, and why he initially came to Port Charles, but the fact he gave her a bracelet and was trying to tell her she was priceless to him had not brought happy tears, just tears of a brokenhearted woman.

"Derek, I'm sorry. I don't mean to seem ungrateful. The bracelet is beautiful and everything from the moment we boarded the plane to come to New York this morning has been perfect. I guess I had pushed down how deeply embarrassed I am that I cannot remember much about Sam's father."

Julian hugged her and led her to the sofa. They sat down, once again his forehead touching hers. "Alexis, you were young. You had been drinking. He should have known better than to take advantage of you. Your father forced you back to that God forsaken island as soon as he found out. Even though you can't remember it, I have no doubt you were punished severely for being young and foolish. They forced you to give away your daughter. It is no wonder you've blocked that time in your life out of your mind. It was too painful for you to remember."

Alexis smiled through her tears and said, "Derek, Julian did not take advantage of me. I remembered more than just his name when Kevin hypnotized me. I remembered being a very willing participant. I wasn't forced. He didn't take my virginity. I very willingly gave him my virginity. He probably thought I was a cheap and easy girl from town."

The guilt tore at Julian's heart. He would never be able to make this up to Alexis. He would never be able to make amends to Alexis or Sam. "Alexis, I don't think it crossed his mind to ever think of you as a girl who was either cheap or easy. He was in that car too. Whatever he thought of you, he thought of himself."

"Derek, you know as well as I do, even though we might not agree with them, there are double standards for men and women."

"Stupid people have double standards. I do not count either of us as stupid."

"It's just that after losing Jason, it would have been nice to be able to give Sam her father and Danny his grandfather. But it has been 34 years since that night in his car. He probably had plenty of girls in that car. He probably wouldn't even remember me. I am sure he has a wife and children and hasn't so much as given a thought to me since he dropped me off at school."

"Alexis, I can say without a doubt, you are impossible to forget. I would bet my life he didn't forget you after dropping you off at school. You should have no doubt that he has thought about you often."

Alexis looked at him, managed to smile, "You are very sweet, but I think you might be a little biased about me. I don't want to ruin the night or the weekend. The bracelet is gorgeous, but Christmas is only a couple of months away…"

Julian smiled at her and said, "For some reason I think on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, between the girls and Danny, who by that time will be running around and getting into everything, we will be lucky to get 5 minutes alone. Besides I didn't want to wait to tell you how much you mean to me. Alexis, I have fallen in love with you. Over the past couple of months, I have fallen head over heels in love with you. You are the first person I think of when I wake up, and the last person I think of before I fall asleep. The bracelet is just a little token of my affection. You may find it too soon to say that you return my feelings, but I just want you to know, and never doubt, I love you."

Alexis broke into a huge grin, tears in her eyes her eyes, but this time happy tears, "I love you too! I wasn't expecting this. I wasn't expecting any of this. I wasn't expecting Derek Wells to step off that elevator and announce he was there to be swabbed as a potential donor. I did not expect him to be a match and for it to work as perfectly as it has. I certainly did not expect the man I started falling in love with that night at the Floating Rib to become everything you've become to me. But most of all I did not expect to be lucky enough to have you love me back."

As he kissed her, Julian said a prayer that loving him would help her to forgive him when the truth came out. He wondered if it was easier to forgive someone you loved as opposed to someone you merely dealt with in business. He had to figure out how to tell her the truth.

As she broke the kiss, she asked him to put the bracelet on her wrist, and with a beaming smile reminded him they had champagne to drink before they went to dinner. She noted she needed to check her make-up after her tears and even though he protested she had never looked more beautiful, she went to fix her make-up.

Julian had truly never been happier, even with the sense of uncertainty about what the future held for them – how would they react when he told them he had known from the moment he had seen Alexis at the Floating Rib that he had known her, and as soon as she told him abut the night Sam was conceived, he knew he was Sam's father, but had said nothing? Julian closed his eyes and sighed aloud, "The course of true love never did run smooth."

He did not know Alexis had come back in the room until he heard her say, as she handed him a glass of champagne, "Derek, you are going to have to explain that comment to me."


	7. Chapter 7

_"There wouldn't be any good stories if everybody did what they should do, when they should do it," my grandmother about soap operas._

* * *

Another half-truth I'm going to tell her, Julian thought as he turned to face her. "It's nothing. I was just thinking to myself, even though you say now that you were falling in love with me that night we met at the Floating Rib, if memory serves, you really lit into me and gave me a piece of your mind. If anyone had told me that night that we would have be a couple just a few months later, I would have thought them insane. I cannot believe you and Sam forgave me for bumping the donor drive story off the front page for one more story of Quartermaine dramatics. God knows stories about secret or fake Quartermaines are a dime a dozen. I would have never forgiven myself if Danny had died. "

Alexis hugged him and said, "Things worked out the way they were supposed to work out. If you hadn't bumped the story, I would have had no reason to give you a piece of my mind, and you may not have gotten swabbed yourself. You did and you were a perfect match. You were the answer to our prayers. And you have been our hero since. Sam calls you 'Superman' and says they need to change Clark Kent's name to Derek Wells. You do know she wants to dress Danny as Superman for Halloween because of you, don't you?"

Julian laughed and said, "Danny will be the cutest Superman anyone has ever seen."

Alexis smiled at the mention of the lone male member of the Davis family, and said, "He will, won't he? It is just amazing to think that 3 months ago he was still so sick, and last week Sam almost bought him an outfit to wear when she takes him to visit Santa. I reminded her, that if it fits him now, there is no doubt he will have outgrown it by the time it is time for him to sit on Santa's lap."

Julian smiled at this woman who had completely changed his life and said, "I cannot wait to experience everything possible with the Davis family. But now it's time for us to leave for our dinner reservation. I want to experience dinner in one of the hottest restaurants with the most fascinating woman in the entire state of New York."

They spent 3 hours with delicious wine and food, talking about Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, Julian suggesting bringing the girls and Danny to the city when it was all decorated for Christmas, so Danny could see the tree in Rockefeller Center. Alexis said they could talk it over with Sam and Molly when they got home, and she would ask Kristina what she thought when she talked to her. They discussed the fact that 2014 was not that far away and teased each other about resolutions they should make. He asked her where she would like to be when 2014 came in, and her that he would take her anywhere. She told him as long as she was able to kiss him at midnight, she would be just as happy to ring in 2014 at home with the girls and Danny, in front of the TV and a roaring fire.

Julian watched as Alexis animatedly told the story of some trouble she and Diane had gotten into before he had moved to town that started off innocently enough with girls' night out for margaritas and tacos at a Port Charles Mexican restaurant and somehow ended up with Diane and Max skinny dipping at the Country Club with Alexis attempting to distract a police officer while Max and Diane tried to get dressed so they wouldn't get arrested for trespassing and indecent exposure. It crossed Julian's mind that if Alexis could forgive Diane for the horrible things she said about Sam during her battle with Silas for custody of Rafe, and if Sam could forgive Silas for they way the custody battle took place, surely they could both eventually forgive him for his sins.

They finished their dinner and their car took them from the restaurant through the city and back to their hotel. They took the elevator up to their suite never once dropping each other's hand even as Julian opened the door to the suite. As he closed the door and turned around, Alexis pulled him into a deep kiss, "Derek, we've waited long enough. We love each other, we're adults, I'm ready for us to take our relationship to the next level, physically. I am more than ready to share a bed with you."

Julian couldn't resist the woman he had dreamed about nightly since he had moved back to Port Charles. Just like 34 years prior, he could no more tell her no, or push her away, than he could walk to the moon. He pulled her in for another deep kiss and as they moved through the suite toward her bedroom where he picked her up and placed her on the bed. As he began to remove her clothing and she began to remove his, he thanked God for bringing her back into his life, no matter if it ended with her cursing him, he would be grateful for the time they had. On Monday, when they got back to Port Charles, he would break Alexis and Sam's hearts by telling them everything, and they would hate him.

Tonight Julian would show Alexis how much he loved her. He was prepared to let the chips fall where they may later, sure his punishment would be having to live to be a very old man without her by his side. But he would not die an old man without knowing her completely. He looked into her eyes and said, "My God, you are beautiful," and kissed her again.


	8. Chapter 8

_This chapter is short and sweet. Filling in a little more backstory. My version of the characters may not be the show's version._

* * *

Julian watched as Alexis slept, cuddled up next to him, head on his chest. He could see just a hint of a smile of her face. His mind flashed back to that night 34 years before, "Alexis, I'm sorry if I hurt you. I think the first time always hurts girls, at least a little."

The 16-year-old girl had said, "You didn't. Not really." And then almost under her breath, so quietly he almost hadn't heard, added something that had made 18-year-old Julian's blood run cold, "I've been hurt a lot worse."

The grown Julian now knew a lot of what that girl must have meant by that. He knew she probably hadn't told him everything, but thought to himself – pot calling the kettle black, Julian. But he knew her life on Cassadine Island with those people had literally been torture. They had told her that their baby was dead, shown her a death certificate, and given that beautiful baby away. Whatever else they had done to her, physically, emotionally, and mentally that had been the worst, the cruelest. He had asked Alexis one night what her family would have done if she had run away with the boy she had met, she had laughed and said, "Helena would have thrown a party. They probably would have let me go without a second thought. Mikkos would have been glad he didn't have to deal with me anymore. Stefan may have missed me and tried to find me later, but the rest of them wouldn't have given a damn except they would have had to find someone else to torture."

The 18-year-old Julian Jerome had been a freshman at Dartmouth. Ivy League acceptance had made his father proud. He was the favored son, favored child really. He had been accepted to every university he had applied to, but Dartmouth had been chosen because it was far enough away from the trouble that might find a member of the Jerome family in or near New York or Boston. Hs father had too many associates in Providence, who might be tempted to try to pull Julian in, so Brown was out. He was a different person in 1979, so determined to stay out of the family business, abhorring the violence that his family's usual line of work sometimes had to fall back on when there was a point to be made.

Julian realized that it was the wee hours of October 26, the day of the event they had come to New York to attend. It was also the day that 34 years ago Alexis and he had conceived their daughter. For some reason the date had always stuck with him. He couldn't have told you the date he had lost his own virginity, but he could never get the date that a pretty girl, he didn't know that well, had given him hers. Derek Wells and Alexis had made love for the first time 34 years to the day after Julian Jerome and Alexis Davidovitch had conceived their daughter in the backseat of a car in the parking lot of a bar.

He knew sleep would not come easy, but he didn't want to wake her, she looked so peaceful, so getting up and going into the sitting room area was out of the question. He would eventually sleep and he would have to find a time during the day to return Ava's calls. He had ignored her calls since arriving in New York and knew he needed to placate his younger sister.

He leaned his head down placing a gentle kiss on her face and whispered to the sleeping woman, "I'm sorry. If there is a way to make it up to you, I will."


	9. Chapter 9

Julian he realized Alexis was no longer curled up next to him and he knew he must have drifted off to sleep. He saw that at some point during the night, she had turned over and away from him. It was 5 AM. He got out of bed, walked over to her side, gently kissed her and left the bedroom. He took a quick shower and ordered coffee from room service. After pouring himself a cup of coffee, Julian decided to return Ava's calls.

He moved as far away in the suite from where Alexis was sleeping as he physically could to phone Ava. After going over some details, including the fact that they now had majority control of ELQ, and that while Sonny had quickly gotten over Connie's death, moving Olivia into the house and bed he had once shared with Connie, Morgan's admission yesterday that he had killed Connie and framed AJ, had pushed Sonny very close to once again, going over the edge. It would be easy as taking candy from a baby to get control of the coffee import business. And if he handled it as badly as most people expected him too, everything now his that was worth having would soon be theirs, and with any luck could be taken without violence.

With the latest chess move in their plan to rid Port Charles of the violence Sonny seemed to thrive on, and noting the progress they had made in regards to taking back Jerome family territory, Ava launched into a tirade, "Julian, what the hell are you doing? It is bad enough you've been playing _Leave It to Beaver_ with Alexis and her family here in Port Charles, but now you take Alexis away to New York City for a romantic weekend. Meanwhile Silas is playing house with your darling daughter and grandson. Your daughter needs to leave Silas alone, or I swear to God….."

His patience had run out, Ava could rage against him, she could threaten him, but bringing Alexis, their daughter, and grandson into it, pushed the wrong buttons. "You swear to God what? Do I need to remind you again what happened to Olivia? There are many issues where you can challenge me. This is not one of them. Not now, not ever. I swear to God if anyone in my family, that includes Kristina and Molly, so much as get a hangnail, you will wish you had never been born."

"You just stick to the plan!" hissed Ava. We have not done all that we have done so that you could screw it away playing _Father Know Best_. You can tell them who you are when all of Port Charles knows, and not before that. Your son-in-law was Sonny's BFF and right hand man until his luck ran out. Both your daughter and her mother had affairs and a daughter with Sonny. They've enabled him for years. Alexis was his lawyer. If they have to choose between you and Sonny, who do you think they'll choose? I hope you don't think they would choose you, the man that abandoned them 3 decades ago and has lied to them for months, over the man whose money paid to keep a roof over their heads. Stick to the damn plan, or you won't have a family to claim! I won't have to hurt them to get rid of them. They will hate you! I will make sure of it!"

He didn't say good-bye, just hit the "End Call" button. If the conversation had continued, there would have been no way his shouting wouldn't have woken up Alexis. He walked into the sitting room, pushing away the instinct to throw his phone against the wall. Ava had spoken the truth. She wouldn't have to hurt his family. Once the truth was out, he would be the one that hurt them, and they would hate him.


	10. Chapter 10

Julian wasn't sure how long he sat there imagining his family, the family he had wanted but hadn't realized how much until they had been standing in front of him, slipping away, hating him.

"Do I smell coffee?" She walked over to where he was sitting and kissed him. "Derek, it is nearly 8. I cannot tell you the last time I slept until 8 and I wasn't fighting some illness. You should have woken me up. I woke up and you were gone. I was afraid last night had been a dream."

Julian thought to himself, she might think she was living a dream now, but as soon as the truth came out her dream, their dream, would turn into a nightmare. He smiled at her, "I haven't been awake long myself," he lied. "Just long enough to hop in the shower, order coffee, and to return a couple of business calls. You looked so peaceful. I didn't want to wake you. I wanted the coffee to be here, ready for you when you did wake up. Have you thought about what you want to do today?"

"I need to call the girls to check in. Were the phone calls you returned business calls about home? Has anything happened in Port Charles?"

He knew there was no point to lie to her about the news about Morgan. One call to the girls, especially Molly, and Alexis would know Morgan had confessed to killing Connie. She would need to know in case Kristina called worried about Sonny or her half-brother. He might as well tell her this one truth.

"Alexis, one of the calls was about a story the _PC Press _is working on. It is major breaking news. Morgan Corinthos confessed last night to killing Connie Falconeri and framing AJ Quartermaine. "

"Oh my God! I have to call Kristina. She and Morgan aren't as close as she and Michael, but… Oh poor Michael. His brother framed his biological father for murder. I just can't believe it. I mean, I should be able to believe it, given the people who raised him, but I watched him grow up. Do you mind very much if I go call Kristina now?"

Alexis and Kristina spoke for over an hour, with Kristina telling her mother that she was fine, and very glad to be nowhere near Port Charles and her father and half-brother's anger issues. She was not changing her weekend plans. Last night she had hung up on a _NY Post_ reporter who called her, turned her phone on silent, and finished the paper that was due on Monday and had emailed it to the professor. Today she was still going to the football game to watch her boyfriend play. She told her mother that she had gone to see her therapist first thing that morning and they had discussed how she had to separate her choices from those of her father and brother.

Derek had written a note to Alexis during the phone call telling her to tell Kristina that he would send a car for her. That it could bring her to NYC tonight after the football game, her boyfriend could come too. There was plenty of room.

Kristina had promised them she would think about it, and discuss it with her boyfriend. She wouldn't say no to the invitation right now. She also said that if reporters hounded her, she would definitely take them up on it because she knew she would need to lay low for a few days.

After hanging up with Kristina, Alexis began to cry, "I wouldn't trade Kristina for anything in the world, but I wish her father wasn't a mobster! Why couldn't her father have been someone like you?! What the hell was I thinking defending him, sleeping with him?"


	11. Chapter 11

Plans for a relaxing day had gone quickly gone out the window. The day was spent on their phones. Alexis was able to find out that Carly had asked Diane to represent Morgan, but since Morgan had framed AJ and Diane had been representing AJ, Diane could not. Diane had given Carly some names but had no idea who she would hire for Morgan. Immediately after hanging up with Diane, Alexis blocked Carly's number so she wouldn't be asked. "I'll have to concentrate on taking care of Kristina and making sure she's okay," Alexis explained to Derek. "My daughter has to come first. There are plenty of attorneys who will jump at the chance to take Carly's money and represent Morgan."

They had spent the day in the suite, on the phone. Housekeepers sneaking in to clean and work around the couple, room service being delivered so that Julian could make sure Alexis took care of herself by eating.

It was around 4:00, after she had felt things had finally calmed down enough, with Kristina telling Alexis that she was leaving to go to the football game, that Alexis was able to concentrate on getting ready. "No, Derek, we aren't just going to 'skip it.' It isn't every day that you are going to receive an award for turning around numerous magazines and newspapers. We are going. Kristina is going to the game then to dinner with David and his family after. She'll call later tonight. She'll let me know if she needs anything."

Unbeknownst to Alexis who had been in one bathroom getting ready, Kristina had called Derek in tears but swearing him to screacy. The media, camped outside her dorm, had prevented her from going about her plans. Her boyfriend had broken up with her via text because his parents had been worried enough that their son was dating a mob boss's daughter. The fact her brother was an admitted murderer was too much for David and his family.

Derek quickly sprung into action – arranging for private security with the help from law enforcement in Connecticut to sneak Kristina out of her dorm, off campus, and onto a private plane. Kristina would be securely ensconced in their suite, probably before their event ended. He arranged with the President of Wesleyan University for Kristina to be able to take some time off, absences would not count against her, her professors would make her class lectures available online until she was able to return. Wesleyan would be getting a sizable donation to their journalism department from The Wells Publishing Group.

Derek called down to the front desk explaining when Kristina Davis came in, she was a guest in his suite and should be treated as such, but if anyone called to see if she was a registered guest, they were to answer, "We have no one here registered by that name."

With matters well in hand, he went to get himself ready.

Derek was tying his tie, when he heard a soft knock and Alexis saying his name. "Derek, I know she said she is okay, but I am worried about Kristina. Would you mind terribly if we….."

He finished her thought for her, "Headed to see her tomorrow? I already have a plane on stand-by. We can head up tonight after the event if you don't like the way she sounds on the phone later. We will leave in the middle of this silly party if we need to do so. She comes first. She needs her mother. "

For the first time since early that morning Alexis smiled and threw her arms around him. "How did I get so lucky? How did the girls, Danny, and I get so lucky to have you in our lives?"

He hugged her, pulled back so he could see her face and look into her eyes. "I'm the lucky one. I looked for you my entire adult life. I didn't even know who I was looking for until you were standing in front of me. And giving me a piece of your mind," he added with a wink.

He stepped back to take a better look at her, then did a complete walk around her looking her over from head to toe. "Once again, you are breathtaking. There won't be a man in the room who will be able to take his eyes off of you." He smiled as a blush crept into her cheeks. He wondered if he would ever be able to compliment her and not make her blush.

They went downstairs and socialized with the who's who of publishing. Derek Wells was the one everyone wanted to meet since he had successfully turned around numerous magazines and newspapers. 3 hours later, they were in the elevator heading back up to their suite, Alexis was eager to talk to Kristina.

"Alexis, don't panic. The service is probably not great in the elevator. Just wait until we get to the suite and then try to call her." As they got off the elevator and discovered four very burly men standing outside their door.

"Who are you?" Alexis asked the men. "Derek, who the hell are they?"

"With everything going on in Port Charles, I though there might be a need for extra security," Derek told her as he slipped the key card into the door and opened it.

Alexis was in mid-sentence asking Derek, "Don't you think Kristina is the one who needs…"

"Mom, they're with me," Kristina interrupted tearfully.

"Oh my God!" Alexis flew to where her middle daughter was standing, grabbing her in a hug. "Kristina, baby, what are you doing here? How did you get here?"

"Mom, don't get mad. I made him swear on Danny's life he wouldn't tell you. I called Derek this afternoon and told him I needed to get away from campus and I needed my Mom. He took care of everything." Alexis hugged her daughter again, mouthing, "Thank you!" over Kristina's shoulder to the man who had once again come to her family's rescue.

He watched as Alexis and Kristina cried in each other's arms. His heart breaking knowing when his secrets were revealed there would be more tears. And that those tears couldn't be blamed on cancer, or Sonny, or Morgan, or anything but Julian Jerome's secrets and lies.

He watched for a few minutes, and then interrupted the mother and daughter to see if Kristina had eaten anything since finding out about her brother the night before. "I haven't had much of an appetite and haven't been able to leave my room. My therapist made a dorm call. David dumped me because of Morgan and Sonny. Everything is falling apart and I needed my mom. I knew it would be a circus if you came to me. Derek and I had already planned to surprise you by me coming down here tomorrow. I'm sorry I have ruined your night. I ruin everything."

"Kristina! Slow down and take a breath. You did not ruin anything, nor have you ever ruined anything. Seeing you has been the very best part of today. I have missed you so much my sweet girl."

"Mom, the only thing I know is what I've read online or seen on TV. Dad won't return my calls. Neither will Michael. Sam and Molly have, but they know as much as I do, which is to say, not a lot. Morgan confessed and his preliminary hearing is Monday."

Alexis glanced at Derek, who nodded, then back at her daughter, "Sweetie, we can be back in Port Charles in time for Morgan's preliminary hearing. We can leave in a matter of hours if you want. You tell us what you want to do."

Kristina started crying, "I don't know. I want to not be related to people who solve every problem by shooting the person they think caused the problem. I want my father not to have raised my bother to kill people."

Alexis stopped her daughter, "Kristina, I, possibly more than anyone else, know exactly how you feel. Don't forget I am a Cassadine by birth. You know the people who tried to freeze the world and killed people when they got bored."

Kristina leaned back on the sofa, "Oh great! I have sociopathic psycho-killers on both sides of my DNA!"

Alexis sighed, "Kristina, we make our own choices. You know you are only responsible for the choices you make. You cannot take responsibility for what Morgan or Sonny do. Their choices are their choices. And your choices are your choices." Handing her the room service menu, Alexis continued, "And now you need to make a choice about what you want to eat."

As Kristina tried to argue, Alexis held up her hand, "Do not argue with me. You are exhausted and have not eaten in over 24 hours. Tell us what you want to eat. Then I want you to take a shower while we order your food. It will be here by the time you get out of the shower. Then after you eat, if you don't mind, I'd like to snuggle with my middle daughter, like we used to do when she was a little girl. I'll scratch your back until you fall asleep."

For the first time since before getting the phone call from the reporter from the _New York Post_ Kristina smiled.


	12. Chapter 12

With Kristina in the shower and food ordered, Alexis and Derek changed out of their formal wear into more relaxed, casual apparel. Even though she was exhausted, there was no way of knowing if sleep would come to Kristina. They needed to discuss with her how she wanted proceed, when she wanted to head to Port Charles, and make a plan of how to deal with the press. Derek sent an email to every publication under his control that Kristina Davis was not to be contacted by any of his employees or mentioned in any coverage of Connie's murder and Morgan's trial, and if she was, heads would roll and jobs would be lost. "Heads may literally roll," muttered Julian under his breath.

Alexis stood in the doorway to the bedroom where he was sitting at the desk working, "Whose head will be rolling and why will it be rolling?" Alexis smiled wearily, "Derek, thank you for everything you're doing for Kristina. It, well, I don't even know how to tell you how much it means to me that you've done everything you have, for a girl that you had never met until an hour ago."

He stood up, from the desk and walked over to where she was standing, "Alexis, she isn't just any girl. She's your daughter." As he pulled her into a hug, and continued, "Kristina and I had already planned to surprise you with her joining us tomorrow. Events in Port Charles just caused us to move our plans up by a few hours, that's all."

"That's all? That is actually quite a lot, but Derek, you and I both know you did more than that. I got an email from the President of the Wesleyan, so I know that you did more than bump up her flight by a few hours. Not to mention we have security outside our door that look and act like they know what they are doing. Sonny's security guards could take a lesson from them."

Derek smiled and said, "Alexis, I wouldn't mess around with the safety of you or your family. I still can't believe that Sonny didn't have guards with Connie 24/7 given his alleged line of work. That seems extremely careless on his part."

"Sonny is hardly what anyone could call 'cerebral' and isn't very good at looking at the long-term effect his actions, or lack of action cause, until he's throwing glassware around when the lack of attention to detail hurts him or someone he loves."

"Sonny and his feelings are not my concern. You, the girls, and Danny are. I wish things were better in Port Charles, not for Sonny's sake, but for Kristina's. However, someone needs to tell that David character, that you do not abandon a damsel in distress. He must not have been raised very well. It is not Kristina's fault what her father or brother do."

Alexis sighed and said, "It worries me more that my daughter might have a target on her back because of her father. That's why I lied about her paternity when she was a baby. Getting dumped for being Sonny's daughter and Morgan's brother, well in the grand scheme of things, isn't a big deal."

"I know her safety is what is important. That's why I hired a security detail, but Alexis, things are going to get worse with this before they get better. The Attorney General has sent people to look into the PCPD. There are concerns, that Dante may have helped Morgan frame AJ. A detective investigating the murder of his father's girlfriend? It doesn't look good for Dante, Anna, or anybody in the department really. The FBI has sent a team to basically take over the department and comb through every file on every case, especially involving Sonny and any of his associates. The fact is Anna should have never let Dante anywhere near the case or anywhere near any evidence related to the case. Just imagine if Morgan hadn't confessed and AJ had been convicted. My contacts in the Attorney General's office and the FBI say that there have been concerns about corruption within the department in regards to Sonny for years."

"Yeah, it wasn't really smart on Anna's part to let Dante investigate. But I can honestly say that, to my knowledge, no one in Sonny's organization has bribed anyone in the PCPD. But then that wouldn't exactly be information I would have been privy to. When do you think we should get back to Port Charles?"

He looked at her and said, "I think we need to let Kristina make that call. If she asks what we think then we can tell her. There is really nothing to be done until Morgan make his first appearance in court. Attorneys aren't exactly lining up to take his case. The word is out about how erratic Sonny has been. He was arrested tonight for assaulting a reporter. We can fly back Monday morning and get there in plenty of time for the court appearance, if Kristina wants to go. She may not need to be anywhere near that courtroom. I know she loves her father and her brother, but it is going to be a feeding frenzy. She's your daughter, but I will support you and her in any way that I can." Before they could say more, the guards announced that the food had arrived.

An hour later, Kristina had eaten and had decided to hold off on making any decisions until the morning, "Or whenever I wake up," she had told them sleepily. "Derek, thank you. For everything. I know me coming tonight wasn't part of your plans for a romantic weekend. I am sorry I interrupted your weekend. Sam, Molly, and mom weren't exaggerating when singing your praises."

"You didn't interrupt anything, Kristina," Derek told her. "If you hadn't come here, I have no doubt in my mind we would have come to you tonight. Your mother loves you. I love her, that makes you family to me. You and your family matter to me."

Kristina and Alexis smiled at him. Kristina, barely able to keep her eyes open, looked very much like a little girl. "Derek, I think it is past time for me to get my daughter to bed. Come on, sweet girl, time for bed."

Alexis and Kristina told Derek good night and went to the back bedroom, leaving him alone in his thoughts.

He left the dining room to turn the TV on in the sitting room so he could catch up on the latest developments. So far there was no word about who would represent Morgan, but that was Carly and Sonny's problem. He could just imagine Ava cackling with glee over this latest turn of events. Only his sister would delight in her son-in-law confessing to murder. Sonny had been arrested for assaulting a reporter and had then attempted to assault an FBI agent. He was spiraling and spiraling more quickly by the hour.

He looked away from the TV only when Alexis came back into the room. "Why are you up? Is there anything wrong?"

"Kristina practically fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. She likes you. She said that much then fell asleep. I am up and in here so that I can spend some time alone with you." She took the remote out of his hands and hit the power button. "And I do not want to watch television or talk about Sonny or the latest developments in Port Charles." She kissed him and when they finally broke the kiss, she grabbed his hand, and said with a grin, "My daughter isn't the only one who needs to go to bed," as she led him into the other bedroom.


	13. Chapter 13

He felt Alexis kiss him and the weight of the bed shift as she got up and out of bed. He grabbed her hand, and asked, "Where are you going?"

"I need to get back in there with Kristina in case she wakes up. I cannot believe I am doing a 'walk of shame' in a hotel suite with my daughter in the other bedroom. I'm too old for this," she said with a giggle as she put on the robe Derek had taken off of her a couple of hours ago. "How is it, you make me feel like I am 16 again?" she asked as she leaned down and kissed him. "I'll see you in the morning."

She walked out of the room and through the suite. Julian sighed. He didn't like her leaving his bed in the middle of the night. He reached for the remote and turned on the TV. Nothing new on the happenings in Port Charles. All of the stations were showing a repeat of earlier reports. He turned the TV off and checked his email. All stories about Connie's murder and Morgan's confession had to be approved by him before going to press.

Once again, how to tell Alexis and Sam the truth played on his conscience. He hadn't realized he still had a conscience until he had met them a few months ago. With Morgan's court appearance set for Monday, his plan to tell them Monday had to be put on hold. He meant what he had said. Kristina and what she needed had to come first. He could handle the weight the guilt caused. He knew the longer he waited the worse it would be for them and for him. He read an email from the editor.

One of his reporters was chasing a lead about the investigation of the PCPD. Anna and Dante had really screwed to pooch when Dante was allowed to investigate Connie's murder. Judges weighing in said that if AJ Quartermaine had been brought to trial in their courtrooms, they would have tossed every bit of evidence Dante had come into contact with during the investigation. The director of the FBI had called the investigation a joke, and said that his 5 year-old grandson could have gotten the evidence and the case against AJ tossed out of court. His favorite quote may have been, "Barney Fife was a more competent investigator than members of the PCPD."

The PCPD would be getting a complete overhaul. Duke Lavery had brought him to town all those years ago. Now Duke's relationship with Anna and her handling of the investigation were coming under scrutiny. There was a time when Julian would have enjoyed watching those two squirm, but now he was getting no pleasure out of it. No need to bask in someone else's misery when he would soon be getting his own.

Why hadn't he just told them when he figured it out? He could have simply said to Alexis, "You know I went to school in New Hampshire. I remember a night just like the one you're describing. I think I might be Sam's father."

Of course it would have been pointed out that she remembered Sam's father being named Julian and his name was Derek. How would he have explained that? Julian was his middle name? That he and his friends had made up names that night before going out? Maybe he should have paid her a retainer fee and confessed all? She couldn't have told anyone who he really was because of attorney-client privilege. Would have. Should have. Could have. Those terms had been running through his brain for months. The fact was, he didn't. He didn't tell them the truth when he should have, when he could have, or when he would have if they hadn't been interrupted. What was his excuse now? There had been plenty of times when there had been an opportunity. He had been with them day in and day out for months. He hadn't known it was possible for guilt to eat you alive.

Whatever happened down the road, the past few months had been the best of his life. If they hated him when the truth came out, he thought he could live with knowing he had helped save Danny's life and gotten to spend the past few months in their lives, loving them, he thought as he drifted off to sleep.

The next morning he woke up, once again ordering coffee and taking a shower. He turned on the TV. There was Carly with cameras being shoved in her face, Franco at her side, snarling that all of this was KiKi's fault. KiKi had destroyed both her sons' lives. Next came an interview with Michael. He looked to be in shock. He announced that he was taking the legal steps to change his last name to what it should have been. No one knew where Sonny was, but Olivia had screamed tearfully at the reporters that they needed to leave Sonny and his family alone. They had suffered enough. Julian rolled his eyes and changed the channel.

"Anything new in Port Charles?" he heard Alexis ask.

"Carly is blaming KiKi. Michael wants his last name to be Quartermaine. Sonny is nowhere to be found. And Olivia is being Olivia. How's Kristina? Is she still asleep?"

"She is. She slept like a rock. I don't think she moved all night."

"So you could have done your, what did you call it, 'walk of shame' this morning?" he said as he kissed her.

"I could have," she laughed. "Kristina never would have missed me."

"Well I missed you. I didn't sleep as well without you in the bed beside me," he told her as he kissed her again.

"Neither did I," she told him. "I think we need to come up with some game plans to run by Kristina to give her some options. And I need to call home to let them know that when we come home, she is coming with us and will be there for the foreseeable future."

With a few options to give Kristina when she woke up, Alexis called home to let Molly and Sam know that Kristina was with them, and would be coming home with them either later today, or early tomorrow.

Alexis and Derek were having coffee when Kristina emerged from the bedroom shortly before 1 PM. After her mother and Derek told her what they thought the best options were, Kristina said, "As much as I don't want to deal with this, I have to deal with it. But I need food and another shower before we get on a plane."

A few hours later, they were walking in the door of the lake house. The reunion between the 3 sisters was tearful, with lots of laughing and crying. Molly and Kristina went to bed early, leaving Sam and Danny alone with Derek and Alexis in the den.

Suddenly Sam looked at Derek and said, "I didn't want to bring this up in front of Molly and Kristina, but Derek, were you ever planning on telling us?"


	14. Chapter 14

It was all he could do to remain standing upright. Sam had somehow found out while they were out of town. Alexis looked from Sam to Derek, "Was he ever planning on telling us what? Derek, what is she talking about? Sam, what are you talking about?"

He said a silent prayer and started to explain, "Listen Sam, Alexis, I wanted to tell you. I tried to tell you a few times, but was always interrupted," and then he noticed the expression on Sam's face. It wasn't sadness or rage. It was joy. What was she talking about?

"Was I ever planning on telling you what exactly?"

"About the pediatric oncology center at GH. They called me yesterday to tell me that you had come through on funding the new wing after Tracy Quartermaine pulled ELQ's donation a couple of months ago. You and your company are fully funding it in honor of Danny." She crossed the room with Danny on her hip and threw one arm around Derek's neck and kissed his cheek. She stepped back and handed him Danny. He held the boy, rubbing his back and kissing the top of his head.

Alexis interrupted his thoughts when she came up and hugged and kissed him. "You never cease to amaze me. Why didn't you tell us? I know you don't like to drawn attention to yourself, but this is, I don't even know what this is."

"The Danny Center is a good cause. I was appalled when I heard Tracy pulled ELQ's donation because Monica got fired. You don't play politics with something like a pediatric oncology center. And everyone says I'm cutthroat? You all know how much I love Danny, how much all of you mean to me."

Sam and Alexis beamed at him until Sam said, "I need to get my little boy to bed. Rafe and Silas are coming to watch him tomorrow while I go to court with the rest of you to support Kristina. And when I get back from putting Danny to bed, I want to hear all abut New York. At least the PG version," adding a wink.

After Sam and Danny left the room, Alexis took Derek's hand and led him to the sofa. "I cannot believe you didn't tell me. I cannot believe you. Do you have any idea how many brownie points you have earned since walking into our lives?"

He chuckled and asked, "And what can I get when I cash in these brownie points?"

"There are many things. I'm hoping you'll go for some of the things that aren't suited for the PG version," she said with a slightly devilish grin.

They were kissing when Sam walked back in. "Okay you two break it up. Tell me about New York," she said with an ear-to-ear smile as she wormed herself in between them on the sofa.

He had to smile. This was the way it should have been 30 years ago. Parents, exhausted from going to school and working to support their daughter, having a quiet moment alone interrupted by their little girl having a nightmare, or just wanting to be with her Mommy and Daddy. Their beautiful little girl wasn't so little now. He shook his head too get the thoughts of how it should have been that had clouded his mind overtaken his dreams during the last several months out of his head. "If you ladies will excuse me, I will head home and let you two catch up without me around. I'll come pick all of you up tomorrow and then we will to head to court. I'll call in the morning."

He hugged Sam goodnight and as Alexis walked him to the door gave her a kiss, "Sweet dreams. I love you."

"I love you, be safe going back to the Metro Court."

As the door closed behind him he heard their daughter squeal, "Mom! Finally! You both said, 'I love you!' Now spill it! I want to hear everything, well maybe not _everything." _

He laughed as he walked to the car. He could only imagine what kind of details Sam would get out of her mother.

The next morning, he and Carlos, who was driving the Expedition, pulled up to the Davis house. Derek had called Alexis to tell her they would be there at 8 to pick them up. When he got to the house he learned Sonny had still not returned any of Kristina's calls, but that she had talked to Michael briefly. Michael was not going to court. He told his sister, "I can't. If and when I see and talk to Morgan again, I don't want a courtroom full of people scrutinizing every single time I blink."

Kristina said she understood better than anyone else why Michael felt the way he did. Unlike Carly, Kristina had not tried to guilt him into joining her. She had all of them supporting her, if she hadn't she might not go either. She said she'd call him from the car after the hearing was over.

While at the house, Derek got a phone call, he motioned to Alexis to walk out on the deck with him. "Alexis, Sonny has been placed in an involuntary psychiatric hold. We need to tell Kristina. You know some reporter is going to shout a question about it to her, so we need to prep her for that. She may decide she doesn't want to go to court, but we cannot let her be blindsided by this."

He watched as Alexis told her middle daughter the news of her father's hospitalization. "Sweetheart, he can get the help he needs. They're watching him to make sure he doesn't hurt himself or anybody else."

His phone buzzed and he saw it was Ava, but ignored her. He would talk to her later, right now the Davis family had his undivided attention.

Kristina sighed and said, "I still need to go. The reporters know more than I do. Between all of you, the driver, and the security guards who have been with me around the clock, I doubt I'll even hear any of the questions they shout at me. We need to get this show on the road and get to the courthouse."

The Expedition arrived at the courthouse at 9:30. The media descended upon them shouting at Kristina, they were ushered into the courtroom. They took up the entire second row, leaving the first row open for Carly and anyone with her. A couple of minutes before 10, Carly showed up with Franco in tow. With her was older lady with red hair, and a young man, older than Michael.

Carly took one look at Alexis and hissed, "I tired to call you to represent Morgan, bit I couldn't get through. It was almost like you blocked my calls. Diane couldn't do it because of AJ. I couldn't find you. Diane gave me some names, but I reached out to someone else."

Derek whispered in Alexis's ear, "Who is that with Carly and Franco?"

Alexis sighed, "That's Bobbie, she's Carly's mother, and Bobbie's son Lucas. I guess they flew in from Seattle to offer support."

The bailiff announced the arrival of the judge, "All rise for the Honorable Judge Maxwell Shuford!" The judge entered, sat down, and hit his gavel t call the court into order. The DA was at his table, but there was no one at the defense table – no attorney, no defendant, no legal assistants. Derek and Alexis looked at each other confused, but then the judge began to explain. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have a slight delay and the defendant is just now able to meet with his attorney. They will be in shortly."

Alexis had leaned over to say something to Kristina when suddenly the defense attorney walked to the table. As the bailiff led Morgan in, Julian could see him give a tight smile to his mother, but still seemed to be looking for someone else, probably KiKi, Julian thought. He glanced over at Alexis and the girls who all seemed, from the looks on their faces, to be surprised by something.

"Your Honor, Ric Lansing for the defense."


	15. Chapter 15

Julian watched as Molly got up and hurried out of the courtroom. He looked at Alexis and whispered, "You stay here with Kristina. I'll take care of Molly," and got up and walked out of the courtroom. He found Molly with the help of a female guard who took one look at him and had known he was looking for the teenaged girl who was in tears. She led him to a room and said, "I unlocked it for her."

He knocked on the door, "Molly, it's Derek. Are you okay?" He got no answer so he knocked again, "Molly, sweetie, please let me know you're okay."

The guard looked at him, "You want me to open it so you can go in?"

He shook his head no, "No, she'll open it when she's ready to talk. Thank you for your help, but I'll just stay here until she's ready."

The guard smiled and nodded her head. "I gotta go back, you change your mind, let me know."

She walked off, and a couple of minutes later, Derek thought he heard footsteps and sure enough the door opened. Derek walked in and saw Molly in tears. "Molly, sweetie, I'm sorry," he said quietly as he wiped tears off of her face with a tissue from a box on the table in the room.

"He didn't tell me he was in town. I got a text from him last night saying he wouldn't be able to make his usual Sunday night phone call because of work. He knew he was coming to Port Charles, he could have already been here, and he didn't tell me. I'm sure he knew I'd tell mom he was coming to try to help Morgan. If I told her, he would lose the element of surprise. He had a chance to choose me over getting back at mom and he didn't choose me."

Derek hugged the girl, clueless as to what he could say, if anything, that would make her feel better. "Molly, there is no doubt in my mind your father loves you very much. How could he not? You are smart, funny, talented." All Julian could think about was how he'd like to tear Ric Lansing from limb to limb for hurting Molly like this. Did he not know what a gift it was to have a child and to be able to be in your child's life? "Molly, I don't know why Ric didn't tell you he was coming to town. Maybe he thought it would be a nice surprise. He's a man, as a man, I can say that sometimes men can be really dense."

Molly giggled, "You are never dense."

He smiled at her, "I wish that was true, and if it is, remember that I'm surrounded by Davis women. Some of your brilliance is bound to have rubbed off on me."

He heard a knock and Sam's voice, "Molly, Derek, are you in here?" Then the door opened and she walked in. "The hearing is over. The judge didn't grant bail. He pled not guilty. Kristina is out in the car with Mom talking to Michael. They're inviting Michael and KiKi over to talk." She looked at her younger sister, "Are you okay?"

Molly looked at Derek, then back at her sister and smiled, "I'm fine. I was just shocked to see Dad in there. He didn't tell me he was coming to town. Let's go home. I guess he will eventually call me. I want to be home when he does."

They got home and Derek sent a couple of the guys to get groceries. He wanted to make sure that they had food in the house. With the way the house was set up, people in the kitchen could still be part of the conversation with people in the den.

Michael and KiKi got to the house around noon, bringing pizzas. Derek and Alexis had made a huge salad. Derek had chicken in a pot slow boiling on the stove. Tonight's dinner would be a hearty chicken stew. While Michael explained that his relationship with his mother had gotten increasingly tense, almost by the hour, since her burgeoning relationship with Franco, "I can't be in the same room with my mother right now. It is like she and Sonny have both lost their damn minds. And Morgan? He framed AJ. The more I learn about what my mother, Jason, and Sonny did to AJ when I was a baby, the more disgusted I am by them. Sorry Sam. I love them, but I am just, well, I'm reeling. "

"Don't be sorry for how you feel. Jason said many times, especially with what happened with Jake, that he regretted taking you away from AJ. If Sonny hadn't forced AJ to sign away his rights, your life would have, no doubt, been different."

"For starters he wouldn't have been shot in the head," Kristina said.

"Or sent to prison," added KiKi.

Michael sighed, "They've kept so many secrets and told so many lies, that I don't know what to believe. I know my grandmother and Lucas are in town, but if I have to see my mother and Franco to see them, I just won't see them."

Alexis said, "What if I call your grandmother and invite her and Lucas here for dinner tonight? You can explain to them why you don't feel you can be around your mother right now."

"I don't want to impose," Michael answered.

Kristina told her brother, "You aren't imposing. Mom wouldn't have offered if it was an imposition. Besides Derek seems to think he is feeding the entire United States Army with the food he is preparing."

Alexis went out on the deck to get away from the noise to call Bobbie. The invitation extended to Bobbie and Lucas was accepted. Alexis told the group, "Bobbie and Lucas were grateful for the invitation. I believe they are both a little tired of being around Franco too."

Julian was little nervous at the prospect of being around Bobbie after so many years, but no one in town had recognized him so far, and he doubted there would be anything about Derek Wells that triggered any memories of Julian Jerome for Bobbie. He had only seen the back of her head in the courtroom and hadn't realized it was her until Alexis told him. Sometimes he had to remind himself that he was two people – Derek Wells was well liked and respected. Julian Jerome had been liked at first then hated and feared.

They spent the afternoon talking and preparing food. Around 5 Bobbie and Lucas knocked on the door. They came in the house and Michael and his grandmother and uncle had a tearful reunion.

After introductions were made, Michael explained to Bobbie and Lucas his hesitation at being around Franco and that he would avoid it at all costs. Derek went into the kitchen to check on the stew and to put the bread in the oven. While he was doing so, Lucas walked to the fridge to get a beer, "Derek, you want one?"

"Don't mind if I do. Thanks. So, you're a doctor. I know your mother is a respected nurse and your father was Tony Jones, who was a respected doctor at GH. Any thoughts about moving back to Port Charles and continuing your family legacy at GH? I guess it was in your blood to go into healthcare."

Lucas smiled and said, "I don't think I can credit genetics. More like nurture over nature. I'm adopted. My biological father died before I was born. My biological mother was killed in a car accident when I was two, and more or less left me to my parents in her will. If anybody else had raised me, I might not be a doctor."


	16. Chapter 16

The food and the company were excellent. At one point Molly had disappeared for a while to talk to her father who had finally called.

When the guests left, and the girls turned in, Sam, Derek, and Alexis turned their attention to cleaning up.

"Lucas seems like a nice, bright, sweet kid," Derek noted.

"Oh he is. Bobbie had trouble accepting he's gay at first, but thank goodness she finally did. Tony accepted it right away, but Bobbie had trouble," Alexis told him.

Derek nodded, "I'm sure a lot of parents would have trouble with it. He's a good looking kid. I wonder if he has a boyfriend."

He noticed the way Alexis and Sam were looking at him, bemused expressions on their faces, "What? I publish fashion magazines. I know a lot of gay men who would love to date a good looking doctor."

"Derek Wells, hero, life saver, publishing giant, and match maker for gay men. I like it," laughed Sam.

"Okay. Okay. I won't try to set him up with the new fashion editor of _Crimson_ just yet. Besides, I'd be more subtle about it. I'd set up a meeting between them first to see if they had any chemistry," he told them with a wink.

"On that note, I'm going to bed. Don't you two do anything I wouldn't do," Sam told them as she hugged them good night.

After Sam was gone, Alexis looked at him, "You know you are really something."

"Am I really something good? Or am I something bad?" Derek teased as he pulled her in for a kiss.

"Oh, you are a bit of both. I just mean you are definitely an Alpha male. A lot of Alpha males can be homophobic and you are trying to brainstorm potential boyfriends for a young, gay doctor you have known for a couple of hours."

"Alexis, I own fashion magazines. A homophobe wouldn't last 5 minutes in any part of the fashion business, including publishing. My roommate in grad school, Alan, was gay. He was actually one of my first hires at my very first magazine. He and his partner, Justin, live in Paris. He runs my European division. He's still one of my best friends. I'd like for you to meet him soon."

"I know. You've told me about Alan. I can't wait to meet him. I think I could enjoy a trip with you to Paris. Or Milan. Or London. Or all three."

"I'll keep that in mind," he chuckled. "Hopefully, our next trip won't end in preliminary court hearings with sudden appearances by your ex-husband."

Alexis shook her head. "I still can't believe Ric didn't bother to let Molly know he was coming to town."

They walked out onto the deck and stood hugging each other looking at the stars and in quiet conversation about their plans for the week and their schedules. He needed to make contact with Ava before she got impulsive and ruined things. There was someone else he needed to contact, but that would have to wait. Right now his focus was on Alexis.

"Derek, why don't you just stay here tonight?" her voice brought him out of his thoughts.

"Alexis, do you think that is a good idea? With the girls, I mean? You've made so many comments about Molly and Kristina being impressionable."

"Derek, they know we went away together. They know how these things work. I am pretty sure they have put two and two together. I know Sam has. Good Lord, you should have heard her last night after you left. It is very sweet you are worried about the impression it will make on my children if they realize what we do behind closed doors, but that ship has sailed. Besides, I am more concerned that Molly might be sneaking and watching Miley Cyrus videos than I am that she might know that 2 consenting adults are having sex."

He laughed and leaned in for a kiss. "God help me if I am ever as bad of an influence as Miley Cyrus. I have to be at the office early. I'll probably be gone by the time you wake up." She led him into the house, down the hall, and into her bedroom.

She drifted off to sleep cuddled up against him, head on his chest, reminding him of just a few nights ago in New York. He played with her hair and thought about his life since becoming Derek Wells.

Derek Wells had gone to grad school after recovering form the injuries that had "killed" Julian Jerome. There had also been enough done to his face that he wouldn't be recognized. His deal with the feds meant if his true identity had ever been discovered, he wouldn't have been able to be tried for Julian's past crimes. They had set up his new identity and then sat back and watched as the man they created became one of the most powerful people in publishing.

Leaving Julian behind without a second thought had never been a problem until now. His relationship with Cheryl was over when Julian died. She had moved on with Robert Scorpio. The feds told him later that she and Robert had a baby, a boy, but he had been stillborn. A couple of years later, his contact let him know Cheryl had died. He hadn't even thought to ask how. At that point, it didn't matter how she died. She was gone and she wouldn't be any less dead if she died of cancer, or if she had killed herself. In the Jeromes' line of work, unless it was someone you loved, and sometimes even then, death was just a matter of fact. After that, he stayed away from looking for information about anyone from Julian's past. There was no one left who might miss Julian. The news he got from Port Charles was the news that made an impact nationally.

He had left Julian behind him and made a life for himself. Or at least he had thought he had made a life for himself. But then Samantha Morgan had walked into his office and into his life, begging him to run a story about the donor drive to save her little boy. A day later, Alexis Davis had stood up to him at the Floating Rib and told him off. Now he knew he had spent over 2 decades making a living, but not a life.

His daughter and grandson were asleep down the hall and they had no idea they were his family. The woman he loved, who was curled up at his side, had no idea he was the one who fathered her first born. That had to change, and it needed to change soon.

He looked at his phone lying on the nightstand. He had to stop Ava from acting impulsively. He had been incommunicado all day, that would mean tomorrow would be extremely busy. Ava would be seething. She got careless when she was angry. Her calls weren't the only ones he had ignored. He knew his office door would be a revolving door tomorrow. Maybe if he could head Ava off at the pass, he could keep her from doing something stupid.

Things were going better than they had planned. There was a hearing tomorrow to extend Sonny's psychiatric hold. Sonny's organization was falling apart.

He squeezed Alexis a little tighter, closed his eyes, and drifted off to sleep.


	17. Chapter 17

_I've been watching this show since before Laura Webber showed up, so this is bringing up lots of memories. I always loved the Jeromes and was devastated when Julian died. Totally pulled for Julian against Duke._

_If the real writers want me to buy that she is going to forgive Franco for getting her son raped, then, she pretty much can't hold Ric's past against him. She loses her right to feign righteous indignation about pretty much every single thing in the world in my fiction. At this point, Julian has no clue that Lucas is his son._

He hated leaving her. If he had his way, they'd spend all day in bed, but now there were problems to be solved and territory to take back. He kissed her cheek and stroked her hair, she woke briefly to tell him to have a good day. He told her he loved her and smiled as she replied, "I love you too," barely getting the words out before she had fallen back asleep.

He was at his desk by 5 AM putting in a call to offices in Paris and speaking to his old friend Alan about the European magazines. At 7 AM it was no surprise when FBI Supervisory Special Agent Glenn Walker walked in for an unscheduled meeting and stayed for a couple hours.

SSA Walker hadn't even left the office, when Ava arrived. Good God, Derek wished Ava wouldn't enter every room like she was attempting to seduce everyone in it.

SSA Walker gave Ava the onceover, rolled his eyes, shook his head, and said, "Mr. Wells, please remember that it might be necessary to shut down your Port Charles offices due to our investigation into Dante Falconeri and his investigation of the murder of Connie Falconeri. By the time our investigation is over, he and Anna Devane will be lucky to be able to get jobs as security guards in the Port Charles Mall." Before leaving the office, he turned and said, "Remember if you think of anything else, you will contact us immediately."

"Who was that and what was he talking about? Where the hell were you all day yesterday and why didn't you return my calls?" Ava demanded.

"That was one of the FBI agents investigating the PCPD for corruption, specifically Commissioner Devane and Detective Falconeri. As far as where I was yesterday, that is none of your business, but I was with Alexis at her house. FYI, KiKi was there too, for most of the day. She seems sweet. Are you sure she's really your daughter?"

"Very funny! Now why was my daughter at a Davis family gathering?"

"Wow, she wasn't exaggerating when she said she really didn't have anything to say to you. She was thee with Michael. Morgan framing AJ really shook him. The fact Dante is also being investigated as part of Connie's murder doesn't help. His mother is hanging out with a man who terrorized the town a year ago, and the man who raised him is being held under an involuntary psychiatric evaluation order. I think Michael is doing remarkably well considering."

"Wow Dr. Phil! Thanks for the update on Michael's inner feelings. Did you find out anything useful while playing house with Alexis?"

"Carly hired Sonny's half-brother to represent Morgan in court. There was no love lost between them, but Diane couldn't because she was defending AJ for the crime Morgan just confessed to. And Alexis wouldn't take Carly's calls. Diane gave Carly a list of 25 names. Carly went out on her own and called Ric. Flew him in from LA. He's family, dysfunctional as it might be. He probably staying at the Metro Court. Maybe you can seduce him too."

"Maybe I'll do just that. Then he and I could double date with you and Alexis. Wouldn't that be fun?"

"Ava. Stop!" Derek grabbed her arm and got in her face, "I am through telling you - stay away from Alexis. Stay away from Sam. Stay away from Kristina. Stay away from Molly. Stay away from Danny. Or I swear to God, an open casket will not be a possibility for your funeral. Have I made myself clear? My family is off limits to you."

He thought he saw fear in her eyes as she jerked away from him. "So with Sonny ensconced in the loony bin, where do we stand on our plans?"

"Listen Ava, no one wants this over more than I do. When it is over, I can sit Alexis and Sam down and tell them everything. I can beg for their forgiveness and I can claim my place in Alexis, Sam, and Danny's lives as Julian Jerome."

"Do you really think they'll be as fond of Julian Jerome as they are of Derek Wells? If you do, you need to be Sonny's roommate in the loony bin."

"Ava, I do not want to discuss my family with you or my prospects for a happily ever after with them. You need to leave. I have work to do, both in the publishing world and for my other business."

Ava stormed out as Derek's phone rang. He looked at the phone and smiled when he saw Alexis was calling, "Well good morning beautiful! And to what do I owe the pleasure of this call?"

"Hi, I'm surprised you answered. I was just going to leave a voicemail. I'm getting ready to head into a meeting. I know you're really busy, but I thought after my meeting , I could bring over lunch and we could have a quick lunch in your office. I'll understand if you can't."

"Alexis, that sounds wonderful. I would love that. I will always have time to have lunch with you. You don't mind having lunch in my office? We can go out?"

"No Derek. It'll be an hour & a half or so. I'll call you when I'm finished to make sure you aren't too busy."

Two hours later Alexis walked in carrying a bad with food from the Floating Rib while he was on the phone with one of the managers of one of his television stations, "Tell him to call me when he gets out of the meeting. I was very clear in the directions I gave about how the coverage of this news story was to go." He slammed the phone down and walked over to Alexis and gave her a kiss. "You have no idea how much I needed to see your face."

"Rough day? What was that about?"

Alexis, I gave very strict instructions on how everyone under the umbrella of my publishing business that Kristina's name was to be left out of all coverage about Morgan's trial. Unfortunately one of the TV stations I bought a couple of weeks ago, didn't follow my instructions. I'm sorry. The reporter and whichever assignment editor okayed the report will be fired by the end of the day."

"Derek, you would have to own every station in the country and Canada to keep Kristina's name off the air when it comes to this story. Her brother killed her father's girlfriend. The fact is what our families do has an effect on us and how others view us. It isn't fair, but that is just the way life is. However, the fact you are trying to protect her, is one of the reasons I love you. Now we need to eat before the food gets too cold and becomes inedible."

They ate and were cleaning up when the manger of the aforementioned television station called Derek. Derek immediately lit into him. He saw Alexis grab a sheet of paper and wrote something down on it. She walked over to put the paper on his desk. He grabbed her hand and she leaned down and kissed his cheek. She picked up her purse, turned around, winked at him, and blew him a kiss. He winked back and she left. He looked at the note she had written, "Have meeting. Need to run. See you after work. I love you!"


	18. Chapter 18

_Something different for Chapter 18. This is not from Derek's POV. This is all Alexis._

* * *

She loved him. She felt like a fool standing there in his office grinning at the man who had totally swept her off her feet.

Alexis watched Derek on the phone dealing with business. Over the past 4 months, Alexis had noticed Derek's habit of rubbing his chin with his thumb and forefinger when he was thinking, or when he was nervous, or when he was stalling, and now when he was trying not to explode in anger. She knew it was his tell. He had done it before he had approached Sam and her before being swabbed, and again before he had known he was a match. He had done it when she told him about Sam's conception and not remembering much about her father, and he had done it before he held Danny for the first time. He had done it before asking her to go on a date with him. He had done it when they had found out about him funding the pediatric oncology center.

People who didn't know him like she did probably wouldn't notice, but over the past few months she had learned that rubbing his chin with his thumb and forefinger was something that he was completely unaware he was doing. She had also seen both Sam and Danny rubbing their chins. She found it endearing that both her oldest daughter and her grandson had picked up on Derek's habit. But that habit was something she had seen before she had met Derek, though she couldn't quite place it. Someone else had done that – rubbed his chin with his thumb and forefinger. Jax? Stefan? Ned? Mikkos? She couldn't remember.

Derek also had a nervous chuckle when he got any piece of news he was not expecting, like when she told him Sonny was Kristina's father and that theirs had not been a long-term romance, not really a romance at all, but another one-night thing for her. He had laughed at her suggestion that he had also knocked up his attorney when he said he was a lot like Sonny. As much as he had gotten under her skin, she had gotten under his. It was like that line from _**Sleepless in Seattle**__, _Derek Wells had been like coming home, and when they the touched, even if it was just to hold hands, or when he would brush her hair out of her face, she didn't know where he began and she ended. She just knew she wanted and needed him more every day, and she found herself daydreaming what their lives would have been like if they had found each other when they were younger.

Six months ago she didn't even know Derek Wells existed, and now, well now, she had trouble remembering when he wasn't in her life. He came in and had taken possession of all of their hearts. And for the first time ever, she didn't think needing a man was bad. He treated her as an equal in every sense of the word, but at the same time he also treated her and her family like they were the most precious things in the world.

She hadn't felt this safe with a man since that night when she was a girl in the backseat of a car with a boy who had made her feel beautiful, wanted, and safe. Derek Wells made her feel beautiful, wanted, safe, and loved.

She had investigated him, if googling someone counts as investigating someone, and knew he was a ruthless, cutthroat business man. He had successfully turned around countless newspapers and magazines. She had seen him deal with others in business in a way that was quite actually a turn-on, especially when he was a totally different man around her and her family. Seeing him with Danny playing cars on the floor, or helping Molly edit papers for school, or in her kitchen making her chicken soup when she had come down with a cold, and then counterbalancing that with the fact he had just fired a reporter, the assignment editor, and the station manager who dared to say Kristina's name in a report about Connie's death and Morgan's confession. Derek Wells was protective of those he loved, and he loved her and her family.

Theirs had been a whirlwind romance, after it had taken him almost month to even ask her out. Most of their time spent together prior to that date had been in the hospital. She had seen the nurses looking at him, even a couple of the male nurses, and the fact that he seemed to be uninterested in anyone who was not a member of the Davis family was endearing. He had the ability to make you feel like you were the most important person in the world when you were in a conversation with him. And the sex was mindnumbing. She didn't know how else to describe it. The first time had been when they were in New York City. He made her feel like a teenager, and while she had noticed countless women giving him the once-over, he only had eyes for her. They couldn't get enough of each other. He had seduced her physically, mentally, and emotionally.

It occurred to her as he listened to him take care of his business, that from the moment he met her in the Floating Rib and she had told him off for bumping the story about the donor drive for Danny off the front page, that he had never raised his voice at her, or been harsh in any way with her. He told her he had gone toe-to-toe with Connie before her death and that Connie had threatened him with Sonny. He said that he hated to speak ill of the dead, but he had found it amusing that someone trying desperately to keep her job would attempt to threaten her boss. If she hadn't been murdered, she would have been fired. Too much drama. She was sure the last thing he wanted was for one of his publications to have mob ties.

She had seen him be short on patience with a lot of people, but never with Sam, or Danny, or Molly and her thousands of questions, or Kristina with her moodiness, or with her, even when she rambled. He was the best listener and was a natural-born problem solver.

But there was one problem he couldn't help her solve. No, Kevin Collins was going to have to help her with this problem. Alexis looked at her watch and jotted Derek a note, "Have meeting. Need to run. See you after work. I love you!" She blew him a kissed and waved good-bye as she walked out of his office and headed to General Hospital.

Alexis walked into Kevin's office, sat down on his sofa. "Kevin, you helped me remember Sam's father's name. I've been having dreams, memories coming back to me in my sleep, I think. I remember finding out about being pregnant and knowing Mikkos and Stavros would take great delight in killing the boy who got me pregnant and defending the Cassadine family's 'honor.' I need you to help me remember more about him. I need you to help me remember Sam's father."


	19. Chapter 19

_Thank you for all of the positive feedback. I'm not lying when I say Chapter 1 was originally all I planned to do. I changed my mind about submitting it more times than I can count before I actually did. But no wI know the best thing about writing fan fiction is that I can make Sonny lose. And lose badly._

* * *

Halloween morning Derek was in his office when he got a phone call from Nikolas Cassadine. "Derek, I want to offer you a seat on the board of directors of General Hospital. I was so preoccupied with Britt and the baby, I didn't realize Tracy had pulled the funding for the pediatric oncology wing, by the time I found out, you had already saved the day. I know you are a busy man, but I'd like to set up a meeting to discuss details if you aren't sure."

It was an offer he couldn't refuse and Derek Wells was now on the board of directors of General Hospital. The Jeromes were easily taking over the town. You would be hard pressed to find a more respected and admired man than Derek Wells.

Luckily for Derek, a trusted associate, his most trusted associate, called him and said she needed a change of pace. The job transfer her husband had taken to Charlotte had not worked out. She and her children would be traveling through Port Charles and would be stopping in to see him on their way, to where she didn't know yet, but they needed a change of scenery. He had a bad feeling about why the move hadn't worked out. With any luck, Derek thought, I can convince her Port Charles is exactly where they need to be.

Derek Wells and his corporation had begun to legally buy up many of the properties that had been fronts for Sonny's organization. The people who had once assisted him and been trusted and loyal parts of his organization were running around like chickens with their heads cut off - making stupid and very deadly mistakes.

Halloween was, in a word, nuts. Wells Publishing delivered treats to the hospital for patients and set up a party for the children who were patients there, but were well enough to attend. After having seen Danny so sick, he couldn't imagine how it must be for a child to have to spend Halloween, or Christmas, or a birthday in the hospital. If a child had to be in the hospital on Halloween, that child could at least dress up in a costume and have a little fun. Julian promised Silas he would come read a Halloween story to the children who were well enough to attend the party. He had gotten Molly's help in picking out the perfect book.

With _Halloween Night_ in hand Derek headed to the hospital. He was not working late tonight he would not miss Danny in his costume, even if the boy's trick-or-treating would be limited to the Quartermaines, Derek's office, and every room in his own house. With as well as Danny was doing, they were all still very nervous about having him out in public with all of the germs. "He's not even 2. He doesn't need to get a lot of candy. We can just 'oohhh and ahhhhh' over how cute he is at home. He has plenty of years to go trick-or-treating and gets lots of candy for the rest of us to steal from him," Sam said with a huge smile on her face.

He walked into the room where they had set up for the party. Kristina, Molly, Rafe, Michael, and KiKi had all volunteered to help. Michael and Kristina needed a distraction to get their mind off of Sonny and Morgan and the chaos that Morgan's murder charge and Sonny's institutionalization had caused. Alexis told him about the Christmas party and the tradition of reading _The Night Before Christmas_ and they were hoping to start similar traditions

Derek looked at the room and smiled. "It looks like Halloween threw up in here," he laughed to Silas. There was not a square inch that wasn't decorated. "I heard someone call it 'Beg-o-ween' when I was younger," he said as he pictured Olivia in his mind. "She never turned on her light and if any child dared knock on her door, after meeting her, I'm pretty sure all of the neighbor kids were sure she was an actual witch. I know I did."

The party began, and soon the children were seated on the floor around Derek as he began reading, "_'Twas Halloween night, and all through the house, every creature was stirring, including the mouse. The walls were aflutter with little brown bats, while hordes of black spiders crept out of the cracks_."

The party was a success. The children had fun. He was leaving the party to go back to the office for an hour or so before Sam brought Danny to the office in his costume. The elevator door opened to let him in and he was startled to see Alexis who had obviously been coming from an upper floor.

"Alexis, what a nice surprise! What are you doing here? Did you have a meeting?"

"Not so much a meeting as much as an appointment."

"An appointment at the hospital? Is there something wrong?"

"Derek, relax. There is absolutely nothing wrong with me. I was going to tell you about it later tonight or tomorrow. It isn't a big deal. Just something I needed to do." The conversation about her appointment was over, at least temporarily as soon as the elevator took them to the ground floor.

Alexis came to his office with Sam and Danny later. Then as Sam took Danny to see Monica and AJ, Derek and Alexis went home to prepare for their little Superman to have his Halloween at home.

Pizza, salad, caramel apples, and his trick-or-treating left Danny exhausted. After cleaning up, everyone but Alexis and Derek went to bed. They headed out to the deck to talk.

Derek started the conversation, "Are you sure there is nothing wrong. You've been awfully quiet tonight. Is there a reason you didn't tell me about whatever appontmet you had today?"

"I didn't tell you because I didn't want to worry you. Nothing is wrong. I promise. I swear to you, physically I'm fine. I am fine in every way that matters, but I went to see Kevin Collins."

"Kevin Collins? Why did you go see him? Isn't he the one that hypnotized you?"

"Yes. Yes, he is. He helped me remember Sam's father's name. I went to see him because I want to see if I can remember more about Sam's father. I've been having dreams, and I actually think the dreams are really memories coming back while I'm asleep, or something. See? It is nothing bad. I just want to see what else he can help me remember."

Glad that she wasn't sick, Derek asked, "What happened in your dreams? What do you think you are remembering?"

"I remember Mikkos and Stavros trying to beat the truth out of me. I remember being scared they would make me lose the baby. But I also remember Sam's father, Julian, being sweet. Asking me…"

Before she could finish telling him his phone rang with a work call. "Damn it!" Derek answered the phone, "This better be important!"

Derek listened to the person on the other end of the phone, "Unbelievable! I'll be right there!"

"Derek, what's wrong? Who was that?"

"Contact from the FBI. Huge story. There was a federal raid on Kelly's tonight. Some of Sonny's guys were arrested, including Shawn. I've got to go see how my reporters need to cover it."


	20. Chapter 20

"Shawn's been arrested? What are the charges?"

Derek sighed and looked at Alexis, "Alexis, baby, it's bad. You know I don't tell you who to accept as a client, but I can promise you, you aren't going to want to be anywhere near this case. He's facing multiple charges, hundreds of counts of human trafficking. Alexis, they found girls younger than Molly."

For a minute he thought she was going to faint. "He's selling little girls? Like they're cattle?"

He was almost scared to leave her, "Sweetie, I don't know much more than what I told you. You were telling me about your appointment with Kevin and what you had remembered. I'll send somebody else to oversee the reporting."

"That's sweet, but don't be silly. I'm fine. I can tell you about t hatlater. I'm just shocked about Shawn. I didn't know he was this depraved. For some reason human trafficking just seems worst than murder to me. God, that sounded horrible! Anyway, go. Keep me updated. I'll miss you tonight. Be careful."

Just then her phone rang. She looked at it, then looked at Derek, "It's Shawn." Derek watched as she clicked the red "Ignore" button. He pulled her into a hug and kissed her. "I'm sorry. I know you two used to be close. But I know you and how things like this affect you. I'm glad you ignored his call. You would have been tempted to help him and the details in cases like these get pretty ugly."

"Derek, I am hardly some fragile flower. I've been privy some pretty grisly details of crimes. I am a Cassadine. Grisly is what we do."

"So you keep telling me," Derek chuckled. "But, in case you didn't know, I love you. You, Sam, Kristina, Molly, and Danny are the most precious people in this world to me." That got a smile out of Alexis, and Derek continued, "So when I get overprotective of you, you may just have to remind me, you are a card carrying member of the, 'I am woman, hear me roar,' club."

"I love you too. As long as you don't club me over the head or drag me around by the hair, you'll do fine." Alexis told him with a grin. "Now you need to get going. The quicker you get there to get this news coverage figured out, the sooner you can come back home." She leaned in to kiss him, "Oh, by the way, you are pretty precious to all of us too."

A few hours later, the _Port Charles Press_ hit the stands with a special edition all about the sex trafficking ring tied to Sonny's organization. 207 girls from Russia, between the ages of 10 and 17, had been found hidden in properties owned by Sonny Corinthos – the last of the properties that hadn't been bought by subsidiaries and corporations under the umbrella of The Wells Publishing Group.

At 6 AM, Derek sat beside Alexis on her bed and told her not only what was in the press right now, but the more horrifying details that SSA Walker told him - when federal agents raided Kelly's, Shawn and Max had been caught tattooing barcodes on girls in the backroom of Kelly's. Some of the girls had already been raped. All of the girls were at local hospitals being examined. They were bringing in translators to help the girls, many of whom had been sold by relatives to the people who brought them to Port Charles. Since they were all minors, they were in the custody of Child Protective Services and would be for some time.

After letting it sink in, Alexis said, "We have some very scared little girls, who don't speak the language, and who are very far from home. They are going to need lawyers, people they can trust to look out for their best interests. I'm going to call CPS, and offer my services. I am also going to see if I can round up a few more competent attorneys who will help. And I think I'll talk to Kevin and see if he knows of any therapists who might be willing to donate their time. I'm sure he would, I just don't know if males might scare them at this point."

Derek decided this was the perfect chance to bring up her appointment with Kevin. The appointment Alexis made to try to remember more about Sam's father, about the boy he was 34 years ago.

"Speaking of Kevin, last night you were telling me about your dreams and your sessions with him to try to remember Sam's father."

"Have you slept at all? Are you sure you wouldn't rather go to sleep? We can talk about this later."

"This is important to you. I want to hear it, but only if you want to tell me." Derek struggled to maintain his temper at the thought of what the 16-year-old Alexis had survived, "You told me that Mikkos and Stavros tried to beat the truth out of you. That you were scared you would lose Sam. You said Sam's father was sweet to you. That he asked you something."

"Wow. Remind me never to play 'Memory' against you," Alexis giggled. She looked at him and smiled, "No, he was sweet. He kept asking me to make sure I really wanted to have sex, to lose my virginity to him in the backseat of a car. He told me I was pretty when we were, well you know. But after, it wasn't like he wanted me to just go away. He asked me if I was okay. He kissed my shoulder and helped me get dressed. He got my number at school so he could call me. When I told him they might not let me talk to a male who wasn't a relative, he asked me if he thought I could sneak away again. When he dropped me off at school, he handed me a matchbook from the bar with his number written in it. He told me if I was able to sneak away, to call him, and he'd meet me. He told me he wanted to see me again and to take me to dinner."

Derek wiped away the tear that was rolling down her cheek and then wiped away one from his own eye. "I am so sorry you went through that. But, wow, you have remembered a lot."

"That's just it. I can remember a lot about being in the car with him. It's before we got in the car and after he dropped me off that I'm not remembering. I can't help but think he told me his name, maybe it was a fake name, who knows? I kept that matchbook. I remember that. I remember looking at it and I remember wanting to memorize it, the number I mean. But I don't know what I did with that matchbook once I found out I was pregnant."

"Alexis, I can't…."

"No, I know you can't imagine. I know that this is like when I blocked out witnessing my mother's murder. I blocked it out on purpose. I think I blocked his name and his number and everything I knew about him to protect myself, the baby, and him from Mikkos, Stavros, and their minions"

"Alexis, I need to tell you, I've wanted to tell you this for a long time…"

At just that moment Molly's voice and knock at the door interrupted them "MOM! Do you know where my red sweater is?"


	21. Chapter 21

As Alexis opened the door to help Molly, Derek thought to himself that if he had a dollar for every time someone had interrupted when he was going to tell Alexis that he was Julian, _the _Julian, _her_ Julian from 34 years ago, he would have been able to buy her Paris. Forget the apology jewelry; I'll have to buy her a city or an island. And even then he still wouldn't be able to make it up to her. He had 34 years to make amends for with Alexis and Sam.

Everyone in the house was awake now, including Danny who wanted to "shave" with Derek. A couple of days prior Danny had a tantrum when Sam tried to wash his face after he had eaten breakfast. The only person he would let comfort him was Derek, who had taken him into the bathroom while he shaved. Danny had been fascinated and had let Derek wash his face and pretend to shave his little face to get the oatmeal off. Sam grateful that the meltdown was over and that Danny was clean sighed, "Whatever works so he isn't walking around town with oatmeal all over his face."

Alexis wanted to tell the girls about the arrests at Kelly's, Molly having been so close to TJ would be upset, knowing that TJ would once again be thrown into another home somewhere with strangers. As Derek sat Danny on the counter and washed his face, he heard Alexis down the hall telling Molly she would do what she could to make sure TJ landed in a safe place with people who cared for him.

After Danny's face was all clean, Derek took him and got him dressed. "Well Little Man, I hope you don't make the same mistakes I did. I wish I hadn't done some of the things I did that got me in trouble."

He didn't hear Sam walk in, "I cannot wait to hear this. What kind of trouble did Mr. Perfect Derek Wells get into? What? You lost a chess match? You failed a test? You got suspended for fighting? You dated all the cheerleaders?"

Derek laughed, "All of the above. Sam, I got into my fair share of trouble. No, I am ashamed to say my first foray into publishing was fake IDs. A couple of friends and I had quite the booming little business back in high school. You can imagine how well that went over when we were caught. I just hope Danny doesn't make the same mistakes the rest of us made, at least not any of the big ones."

Sam picked the little boy up and kissed his forehead. "I know what you mean. I wonder sometimes how different my life would have been if I had been raised by Alexis, or anybody else really. Jason chose a life that was dangerous and now he's missing this. He's missing seeing Danny grow up. If he had chosen a different path, or if he had not become Jason Morgan, he would still be here. But then again, I'm not so sure Jason Quartermaine would have given me the time of day."

Derek looked at his daughter holding his grandson, "Then Jason Quartermaine would have been a damn fool."

"He'd be a fool who is a surgeon and alive." Sam smiled sadly, "Could have beens and should have beens don't really get us anywhere. Do I wish Jason was alive? Every minute of every day. I like Silas, I like him a lot, but I have to take it slow. Maybe if I didn't have Danny, I would jump in without thinking. I don't know. Jason and I had all that history, and all that goes with it, including doing some pretty horrible things to each other. But we were able to forgive each other and move past it. We loved each other and we had Danny."

Derek said a silent prayer that they would all be able to forgive him and move past it, eventually, looked at Sam and said, "I really wish I could have met him."

Sam smiled and said, "Me too.

Derek's phone buzzed interrupting the moment and he saw that he had gotten a text. "Excuse me Sam, I've got to respond to this. It's a contact about whole Kelly's thing."

He walked out to the deck where he could return the call absent of all of the early morning chaos of the Davis females getting ready for the day. He thought about the day Alexis told him, "Sometimes I think the secret to a happy family is separate bathrooms – one bathroom for every family member and a couple of extra for guests. And a heavy duty hot water heater."

"Didn't I just leave your office a couple of hours ago?" Derek questioned SSA Walker.

The reply was a gruff, "Shawn wants to see you."

Derek was caught totally off guard, "Why does he want to see me?"

"How the hell do I know? I'm not your social secretary. You can come see him between 10 and 12."

Derek ended the call and walked back in the house. He needed to talk to Alexis. He needed to tell her everything. He needed to get her alone and tell her everything, and hopefully, with any luck, she would understand.

"Derek, I'm going to take Molly to try to see TJ. I'll call you later. You look like hell, still handsome, but you need to sleep or you're going to fall over."

"I'll try to get some sleep. I want to finish our talk." He noticed her puzzled look. "The one we were having before the mystery of the missing red sweater interrupted. I think we need some alone time so we won't get interrupted."

"Well with everything going on, with how upset Molly is about TJ, and how upset

Kristina is about the mess her father's organization is caught up in, I don't know if too much alone time is going to happen for us right now. I would love some alone time with you, but I can't make any promises right now. Let's just play it by ear. This hit the girls pretty hard and they are devastated. I'm sorry."

"No, no don't be sorry. The girls and Danny have to come first. Always. Just please

put me on your calendar the first chance you get."

"I'll look at my calendar and pencil you in," she said with a wink.

Derek got to the office and began looking over numbers and reading stories, updated about the arrests the night before – international news story and his paper had broken it. His paper was being quoted by every major news organization in the world.

At 10, he went to the Port Charles jail to see what Shawn wanted. He sat down and waited. Shawn was ushered in shackled and under heavy guard. Shawn picked up the phone on his side of the glass, Derek picked up the phone on his side. "They said you wanted to see me. Why?"

"Why won't she answer my calls? Did you tell her not to represent me?"

"She's a grown woman. But if you knew her, you would know if I had tried to tell her what to do, she would do what she wanted to do anyway. Shawn, she has 3 daughters. Do you really think she'd want to represent someone accused of selling girls for sex? She is actually volunteering to represent the girls. Pro bono, of course."

That information caused Shawn to slam the phone down and angrily push the chair away from the table in front of the glass. Derek watched as the guards led him away.

He got back to the Metro Court, walked into his office, and heard, "Uncle Derek!" before he saw or felt his youngest sister's children wrap themselves around his legs.

Derek grabbed his niece and nephew into a bear hug, "Look at you two! You've grown a foot! What has your mother been feeding you?" He looked around for his sister. "Caroline, you don't look too much worse for the wear. Are you okay?"

His sister looked at him, "I'm fine. We needed a change of pace." She changed her voice into whisper, "His job came with a 20 year-old secretary. My job comes with a gun and a vast knowledge of how to dispose of bodies and hide evidence. It was best for us to leave and for him to let us." She turned the TV in his office on so the kids could watch TV, then she looked at her brother, "So tell me everything."


	22. Chapter 22

An hour later, she was still listening. "Ava hasn't changed at all. How in the hell did the two of us come from the same womb minutes apart? I ran away and joined the FBI. Meanwhile she dreamed about being head of a crime family. "

Derek laughed, "You were always the black sheep of the family." Derek smiled, "Trying to right wrongs and help the oppressed."

Caroline smiled, "Only in our family can being a law abiding make you a black sheep. I literally have an evil twin." Changing the subject, "I can't wait to meet Alexis. And my niece. And my great-nephew. God that makes me sound old. But when are you going to tell her everything?"

Derek looked at her, "As soon as I can get her alone for more than 5 minutes. What about you? How's Vince? Have you seen him?"

"You're making excuses and changing the subject. Vince is on the beach sipping drinks with umbrellas in them. You should have heard him bitch about Ava kicking him off the docks," she laughed. Caroline continued, "Grant was a mistake, the dumbest choice I've made. When the reaction you have to your husband cheating on you is relief, it is way past time to end it. Marrying him was a reaction to Zo agreeing to go deep undercover again. I was alone and with twins. Raising two kids alone scared me enough that I thought I could learn to love Grant. And Grant needed a wife to help his career. We were more like friends helping each other out." She smiled, "In case you haven't figured it out, my therapist is amazing at making me look at why I choose the things I choose. You should hear her tackle my daddy issues."

Laughing he asked her, "So what are your long-term plans? You always have long-term plans?"

"I'm here for the case. I need to go talk to the girls they found. The bureau offered me Port Charles. You're here so I said yes, so you don't have to try to convince me to stay. Anna Devane made a mess out of the police department, and we have to clean it up. From the research I have done, reading the case files I've gotten to read, I honestly wonder if she sustained brain damage during her time away. No matter what I have read about him, I never understood what she saw in Duke Lavery. He reminds me of a vampire, and not the sparkly **Twilight** kind. Nope he's the kind that bleeds you dry and sucks the life out of you." Adding quickly, "And I need to find Lorenzo."

Derek raised his eyebrow at his favorite sibling.

"Don't look at me like that. He's their father. He went undercover 2 months after they were born and I married someone else. We have to be civil for the kids. When he gets the time with them, he's an amazing father, totally present in whatever they are doing or telling him. Lord, he'll have fun sneaking in and out of this town to see them. When he was here, he was an 'international arms dealer' and he's supposed to be dead, he'll be excited to make an appearance at an awkward moment."

"So you two? Has anything happened? Maybe he will give up the deep undercover assignments and be a regular old G-Man."

"He'd die of boredom by the end of the first month. We have 2 babies. A lot has happened. We were two damaged people who found each other – both from organized crime families who didn't want that life. We work better like this. When we're together we're either fighting or fu…, doing what got us twins. It's better for those two if we aren't trying to be a couple. As mind-blowing as it was when it was great, hell it was even more so after a fight, but great sex isn't worth it now. Not with Joseph and Frances. Those two are geniuses. If we don't screw them up to the point of them needing daily therapy, they'll cure diseases or bring about peace in the Middle East. I just have to have the strength to remember all of the reasons why we shouldn't when he shows up flashing those baby blues."

"Caroline."

"Don't 'Caroline' me. I've seen a lot in my job and I know there is a thin line between genius and evil genius. And the line between brilliant scientist and serial killer is minuscule. Parents screw up their children. Our siblings are living, and quite not so living, proof of that."

"When was the last time you and the kids saw Lorenzo?"

"August, after the divorce was finalized. He was still in undercover mode. The kids and I went to the Isle of Palms. He showed up one night after the kids were asleep. I got him cleaned up and shaved so he wouldn't scare them. When they woke up, their Daddy was in the kitchen drinking coffee. We played happy family for a few weeks. It was great, it was perfect actually, and then he had to leave. It was a mistake. It confused the kids. And it confused us. I love him. He loves me. Loving each other was never the issue."

She wiped a tear as it rolled down her cheek, then looked over at her children and smiled. "Those two are the best things that ever happened to me. And the idea that some choice Lorenzo and I have made could be responsible for screwing them up for years, terrifies me."

"Sam and I had a similar talk about Danny this morning. That we hope he wouldn't make the same mistakes we had, at least not the really big ones."

"I like you in family man mode. It looks good on you. You are practically glowing. And you need to get the truth out in the open with them. Your gut instinct was to tell Alexis as soon as she told you the story abut Sam's father, right?" He nodded. "Then tell her. The longer you wait, the harder it is going to be. Do you really think Alexis is going to be okay with her therapist getting to the truth before you tell her? She is remembering a lot already. You may no longer look like Julian Jerome, but …."

He looked at her, "I know you are right. I want to tell them. I need to tell them."

"So tell them. Listen you and I both know you did things 25 years ago, you wouldn't do now. You saw what you were becoming and you got out."

"I couldn't have changed who I am without you. You left and didn't look back. You became Caroline Wells and stayed away from everything Jerome."

"Not everything. You knew where I was and who I was. I needed you to call me and say you wanted out, and I couldn't force you, anymore than I could force Zo to leave undercover work. You were ready and you made the call. The Bureau wanted your contacts and your knowledge. You are like our $6 billion man. You made everything happen for Derek Wells. But Derek, as far as your history with Alexis goes, you're living a lie. And before you say anything, I know. I've done my fair share. Everybody lies. When you're undercover, your lies are your life. You slip up on the story, you might die. I don't think you have to worry about them killing you. They'll be shocked. They'll be hurt that you've waited this long to tell them. But if they love you the way I think they do, they will forgive you."

The receptionist buzzed Derek to let him know Alexis was there to see him. Derek opened the door to let Alexis in and to introduce her. "Alexis, this is my baby sister, Supervisory Special Agent Caroline Wells of the FBI. And these two are her children, Frances and Joseph. Caroline, Frances, and Joseph, this is Alexis Davis."

After ordering in lunch Alexis and Caroline chatted to get to know each other. Alexis found out Caroline had been overseeing the operation to bust the human trafficking ring. Caroline made Alexis promise to call her if she and the other lawyers Alexis had gotten to represent the girls had trouble getting together with them to advise them. "These girls have been through hell, they need people they can trust and they need some good things to happen to them."

Alexis left to go with the other attorneys to meet with the girls and Caroline and the children left to go check out their new house. Derek had meetings himself and phone calls to various employees.

He looked at the clock and saw that it was 6, he got in his car and headed to finish dinner for Alexis and the girls saying a silent, "Thank you," to the inventor of the Crock-Pot. He walked into the house, stirred the food in the Crock-Pot, andd then walked to the bedroom to find Alexis.

"Alexis, are you in here?" he called out as he walked into the room. He saw her sitting on the bed. He leaned over to kiss her. "How was the rest of your day? How was your meeting with the other attorneys and the Russian girls?"

"Everything went really well, including my appointment with Kevin. We had a breakthrough. I remembered where I hid the matchbook with Julian's phone number," she said as she pulled out an old _McCoy's_ matchbook. "Not only do I have a number that belonged to Julian in 1979," she said opening the matchbook, "I know Sam's father was Julian Jerome."


	23. Chapter 23

_No one set up Max and Shawn. Sonny isn't the hero. If that is the storyline you're looking for, I'm gonna go ahead and spoil this for you, that is not going to happen. I loathe Sonny and I have since day 1. If that is going to bother you, you might want to stop reading it._

_GH has whitewashed what the mob does since he's been a character. They wanted a lite version of The Sopranos and that's just dumb. Organized crime, real organized crime families traffic drugs, weapons, and women. If you are willing to shoot somebody dead for money, you really think dealing drugs, or selling weapons, or girls is going to tickle your conscience?_

_Ava and Caroline are fraternal twins – they look (and act) completely different. We have the Jerome family Id, Ego, and Super Ego in this story._

* * *

"Not only do I have a number that belonged to Julian in 1979," Alexis said opening the matchbook, "I know Sam's father was Julian Jerome."

Derek's mind went blank, "What? You went to see Kevin again today? How did you remember where you hid the matchbook? How did you even still have it?"

Alexis looked at him like he had grown two heads, "Not the point Derek. My oldest child's father is dead mobster. 2 of my 3 daughters are not only from one-night stands, but are the offspring of mobsters. I know why I look like I saw a ghost, but why do you? You're disgusted by me now, aren't you? I know I'm disgusted by me."

"Alexis, I am not disgusted by you. I never could be. I didn't know you were seeing Kevin today. I just am surprised that's all. I want to hear the whole thing. I'm just kind of stunned right now. I'm not sure what to say, I wanted to…"

Once again a flurry of activity from the front of the house interrupted as every other member of the Davis family came home.

"Derek, I don't want Sam to know about this yet. I'll tell her, just not tonight. I need time to process this, so I don't want to talk about this anymore, at least not tonight. We need to go finish dinner so we can get everybody fed and homework can get done."

Derek stood there stunned, and merely nodded. He had to talk to Caroline.

Going through the motions was both a struggle and effortless as they had what had become over the past few months their nightly family dinner. The girls were thrilled to learn that Derek's sister was in town with her children and looked forward to meeting them since they would be living a mile away figured they might spend a lot of time together.

Molly wanted to write an article for the paper about the foster care system in regards to older children. Derek told her, "Write it. When you're finished I'll pass it on to the editor. I am sure the issue of finding families to foster older kids is an issue outside of Port Charles, it could run in most, if not all of my papers."

Kristina was seriously thinking about transferring maybe even to PCU because she couldn't imagine going back to Wesleyan. Alexis said, "Kristina, sweetie, you know I would love to have you home. But it has only been a few days since everything happened. Don't make any snap decisions."

Sam was considering moving back to the penthouse with Danny. "He's better. We can move back and give all of you more space. We moved in because he was sick and I needed to be here for your help. You've all been terrific, but maybe, not now, of course, but maybe after the holidays, maybe in January, we might be ready to move back to the penthouse."

Dinner was done, and Kristina went to work on a paper she needed to email a professor by noon the next day. Molly set off to do her homework. Sam went to bathe Danny and get him ready for bed. Alexis and Derek were left to clean the kitchen.

"Alexis sit down, have a glass of wine, I'll do this." Derek put the leftovers up, loaded the dishwasher and set it to come on a few hours later.

"I think I'll run over to Caroline's and see how they are settling in. I'm glad to have her here. I've missed being around her and the kids."

"I'm going to take a bubble bath. Give her my best. Why don't you see if she wants to come over for dinner tomorrow night with the kids? Danny loves being around kids who are a few years older than him. It'll be fun."

"If you're sure it won't be too much, they would love it I am sure. Joseph and Frances will adore Danny."

Alexis stood up, walked over to him and kissed him. "I'm sure. You know since Sam's father's been dead for a couple of decades or so, I guess it is a good thing you came along and were a perfect match for Danny. Knowing her father is Julian Jerome, I could have always called Lucas Jones and asked him to be tested."

Confused, Derek asked, "Lucas Jones? What does Lucas have to do with Danny?"

Alexis looked at him, "He's Sam's half-brother. He is the biological child of Cheryl Stansbury and Julian Jerome. Bobbie and Tony adopted him after Cheryl was killed in a car accident."


	24. Chapter 24

"He's Sam's half-brother. He is the biological child of Cheryl Stansbury and Julian Jerome. Bobbie and Tony adopted him after Cheryl was killed in a car accident."

The words were ringing in Derek's ears. In shock, he told Alexis he would be home in an hour or so, and he walked out the door. He was at Caroline's which was about a mile away in 2 minutes.

"You're here. I hope you are ready to unpack. The kids passed out about an hour ago after a dinner of tomato soup and grilled cheese, not that 4-year-olds are the best at unpacking moving boxes, and…. what the hell is wrong with you? Did you tell Alexis and Sam?"

"No. I haven't told them yet but, I think I need you to do some digging for some information about Cheryl."

"Stansbury? Why? She died a couple of years after Julian did. Is she not really dead? What is up with this town and no one staying dead? I mean I'm glad you didn't really die, but honestly, it's like **The Night of the Living Dead** around here."

"As far as I know she's still dead." Derek walked over to where she already had the bar set up, "The fact that you have 3 kinds of bourbon is one reason I am glad you are here," as he poured himself glass of Pappy Van Winkle, downed it, and poured himself another glass.

"Derek that costs $250 a bottle, if you are going to drink the entire bottle tonight, at least tell me why in the actual hell you brought up Cheryl Stansbury. Why do you need me to dig up information on Cheryl Stansbury?"

"It is more like her son I need you to dig up information on."

"Wait did she have another baby after the baby she had with Scorpio was stillborn?"

"Nope, I think we're talking about that baby."

"What exactly do you expect me to find out about a baby who was born dead?"

"He's not dead. His name is Lucas Jones and he is in med school in Seattle. And Alexis is under the impression that I am, or rather Julian is, his father."

"So in less than a year you have found out you fathered or may have fathered 2 children you didn't know about? Did it never occur to you to wear a condom? Okay. Wait. Never mind. Don't answer that. Let's just stick with the important issue at hand. Start at the beginning. Don't leave anything out. How did you go from not telling Alexis and Sam, to now you have a son you never knew about?"

Derek began recounting the story, "I came home and Alexis was on the bed. She had been to see Kevin, her therapist. Somehow they were able to recover some memories and she remembered where she had hidden the matchbook I gave her the night we met. I had written my name and number inside the matchbook. She said something about Julian Jerome, a dead mobster being Sam's father. I was getting ready to tell her and everybody came home and she said she didn't want to tell Sam yet, she needed to process it first. After dinner, Kristina and Molly were working on homework, and Sam went to bathe Danny."

"Okay, so where does the news about Lucas come in?"

"I told her I was coming over here to help you, and she made a throw away comment about it was a good thing I was a perfect match since Sam's father has been dead for over 20 years. But she guessed if I hadn't shown up, Kevin would have gotten to the truth sooner and she could have called Lucas. I asked what Lucas had to do with it and she told me Lucas was Sam's half-brother, that he was the biological child of Cheryl and Julian Jerome."

"Maybe it is just a rumor. It might be nothing more than an Urban Legend, but I will do some digging."

"Caroline, the FBI told me Cheryl's baby was Robert's."

"I know. I doubt Director Sessions was BFFs with Cheryl, so I don't think anybody had orders to lie about her kid. I'll get a hold of the relevant dossiers and I'll see what is in there. As the Special Agent in Charge of fixing the crap she created, I have to review everything anybody connected to Anna Devane was part of for the last 2 decades, so I was going to have to look at it eventually. Anything with your name in I share with SSA Walker, who by the way is not thrilled I got promoted over him, so if there is anything I don't know about you, now is the time to confess all."

"You know everything. They know everything. Julian Jerome died on March 16, 1990 and Derek Wells was born. I've been on the straight and narrow since then. I just want to finally be able to tell Alexis and Sam everything. SSA Walker ordered me not to tell when he came to see me a few weeks ago. He told me them knowing might threaten the human trafficking operation. Of course, Ava warned me it would threaten our plan to take the territory back from Sonny."

"Walker had a point. There is no telling who they will tell once they find out. Everyone in town may end up knowing you changed your name in 1990 within 24 hours of you telling them. That could endanger you and them. The Jeromes still have a lot of enemies. You would have more if they knew you had been working with the feds since 1990. Ava, well, she's nuts. She always made Olivia look sane. My rule was always to do the opposite of what those two told me to do. God, I was terrified of them."

"That's why you got sent to Ashley Hall. Our parents were afraid those two would kill you."

"And as soon as you went to Dartmouth, I had no one to save me from our evil siblings. Sleeping with one eye open, afraid Ava would smother me with a pillow. Such good times growing up," she added with a sigh. "So they sent me to Charleston to attend Ashley Hall and live in a very lovely home in Charleston with a nanny."

"You turned out the best of any of us. I'm the one that told them to send you away. I think sending you away is what killed our mother. It broke her heart. She should have left Ava with dad and gone with you."

"No, I think Victor pulling you into the family business is what broke mother's heart and killed her. They sent me away because I was miserable in that house without you. And any time you had a break, you didn't go off with your friends, you came to see me. I don't think you'll ever know how much that meant to a lonely little girl."

"It was only natural I looked out for you, you were the baby. I still remember the first time I held you. The doctor almost lost you when your umbilical cord got wrapped around your neck. You grabbed my finger in your little hand and looked me right in the eyes. You were only a couple of hours old and I promised you I'd always take care of you."

"A few hours old and I was already begging for help. I still say Ava tried to strangle me with the umbilical cord. Speaking of Ava, you need to tell her I'm in town. The last thing we need is her blindsided about it and going off on a tangent. For a wannabe crime boss she is not very discrete."

"You haven't seen her since Mom's funeral?"

"I have no reason to see her. That was the last time I stepped foot in that house."

"You told me you were changing your name, you gave me the number and told me if I ever wanted to get out of the life to call you, otherwise to leave you alone."

"Okay enough rehashing Jerome family history for today. If you'll stay here with the kids, I'll run to the office and see what I can dig up about Lucas. I'll try to have you home by midnight."

After Caroline left go to the office, Derek called Alexis, "I may be at Caroline's a little later. She has to run to the office and she needs me to stay with the kids until she gets back. Don't wait up. If it is too late, I'll just stay here."

He hung up the phone and started unpacking boxes for his sister.


	25. Chapter 25

_Some __**General Hospital**__ history for those not watching in 1989-1990, and a review for those who were. This involved a lot of youtube from 1989 and 1990. I had forgotten how very much I loved Julian. He was always so chivalrous with the woman he loved, and in 1989 and 1990 that was Cheryl, even if I didn't think she deserved him since she was seeing both Julian and Robert._

_ If Julian had taken his jacket off and lad it over a puddle for Cheryl to walk on so her shoes wouldn't get muddy, it would have made perfect sense for his character. You knew Steven Culp was outta there when Julian started acting OOC._

* * *

Around 11:00 Caroline walked in the door, handed Derek some papers, and said, "Congratulations. It's a boy." She walked over to the bar, poured them both a drink, and handed his to him, "And you're really going to need to sit down for this."

"There's more to the story than I have a grown son I knew nothing about until a couple of hours ago when I was told by the woman I love who has no idea I fathered her oldest child?"

She looked at him, "There's more. Sit down." Derek sat down on the sofa. "From everything I have found so far, everybody believed Lucas was Robert Scorpio's kid when Cheryl was pregnant with him. She said from the beginning it was Robert's child. She went into labor and gave birth. She was told the baby was stillborn, when he was actually taken from the hospital and then he, he was sold on the black market and adopted illegally by Tony and Bobbie Jones."

"Cheryl died thinking her son, our son was stillborn?"

"No, Derek she found him, or Robert Scorpio found him. Cheryl never believed he was stillborn. She knew she heard him cry. She asked Robert Scorpio to look into it and to find their son. He found him a year, year and a half later. Bobbie and Tony were forced to give him back to Cheryl. After Cheryl got Lucas back, a blood test was done and Robert was proven not to be the father. When Cheryl died, she had named Bobbie and Tony the legal guardians for Lucas in her will. There was a custody battle between Cheryl's sister, Tiffany Hill and her husband, Sean Donnely and Bobbie and Tony. The judge awarded custody to Bobbie and Tony."

Derek got up, poured himself another drink. "Is there anything else I should know?"

"Derek, there were notes in the dossier that Victor had arranged for Cheryl Stansbury's baby to be taken and sold, and for Cheryl to be told the baby was dead."

"Caroline, that makes no sense, how in the hell would Victor be able to arrange for a baby to be sold when Victor was dead before Cheryl gave birth to Lucas? He died before Julian did and Julian didn't know Cheryl was pregnant when he died?"

"People don't stay dead in this town? Derek, did you actually Victor's body? I swear to God if he and Olivia come back from the dead…"

"Yes, I saw his body. He killed himself when he swallowed that pendant after Lucy Coe rejected him. She and Alan Quartermaine dumped his body in the water."

Caroline looked at him, "Okay so maybe we can rule out him not being dead."

"Someone set Victor up to look like he arranged to have a baby kidnapped and sold? Who would set up a dead mob boss?"

Caroline sighed exasperatedly, "Hell, I don't know. Is it possible he could have gotten the family mixed up in the black market baby business before he died and conveniently left that part out when he took Julian under his crooked wing?"

"At this point, I guess anything is possible."

"Okay here's another possibility for you to ponder – maybe the DNA test was wrong? There seem to be a lot of shenanigans in General Hospital's lab, especially with DNA testing. Who knows how far back that goes? Maybe you aren't actually the father? Not saying Robert is, but maybe there was a third choice. Or since you weren't around for your blood to be tested, maybe you aren't the father. I can't tell if they just assumed Julian Jerome was the father since Robert Scorpio wasn't."

"I knew she was seeing Scorpio. As far as I know there wasn't a third man. The lab was spot on about Danny's bone marrow and me being a match."

She looked at her brother and said, "Derek, I don't know what to tell you. We can't exactly ask Victor about it, but unless Victor Jerome had ESP, there was no way he could known Cheryl would be pregnant a year after he died, and could have arranged to have a baby, who hadn't even been conceived before he died, kidnapped and sold on the black market."


	26. Chapter 26

"Derek, I don't know what to tell you. We can't exactly ask Victor about it, but unless Victor Jerome had ESP, there was no way he could known Cheryl would be pregnant a after he died, and could have arranged to have a baby, who hadn't even been conceived before he died, kidnapped and sold on the black market."

"I know. Victor died in October 1989. Julian died in March 1990 without knowing Cheryl was ever pregnant."

"Come on now Derek. Cheryl ran away because of the Jerome family business. She gave birth in Delaware. But if Julian had known he was going to be a father, he sure as hell wouldn't have wasted his time with Jonathan Padgett. And you never would have agreed to become Derek Wells. You would have tried to do right by Cheryl and Lucas. Cheryl died in Phoenix in a car accident a couple of years after Julian died. It is easy to stage car accidents. Were there any Jerome associates or enemies who would have killed Cheryl a couple of years after Julian died?"

"What would be the point? We had associates and enemies all over the world. As for specific names with ties to Phoenix, no one stands out in my memory. We're talking 25 years ago."

"Well, it wouldn't necessarily be someone from Phoenix, they could have gone specifically to Phoenix to kill Cheryl and left town as soon as the deed was done. Maybe someone thought Julian wasn't really dead and was trying to smoke him out? I mean Julian faked his death in 1988, why not fake it again in 1990? Kill the mother of his child, and he'll come forward to claim the kid?"

"Caroline, I don't know. I'm still reeling from the fact that Lucas is my son. If Cheryl got killed because someone figured out I wasn't actually dead…"

"I know. Listen there is absolutely nothing else we can find out about this tonight. And there are a couple of 4-year-olds asleep who will be up before the sun demanding full attention and food. I need a few hours of sleep before they tackle me in the morning. After some sleep and strong coffee, I need time to be able to go over all the information in all of the dossiers connected to this mess. I need to go back and look for dates. Birth dates, especially for babies sold on the black market, or when the mom is on the run from the mob, get changed all the time. I'm going to check out adult Lucas Jones. There is really nothing on him in the files after custody was decided and he went to live with Bobbie and Tony Jones. What do you know about him, anything?"

"I met him once. He came over to the house with Bobbie after Morgan Corinthos has his preliminary hearing. He seems to be a good kid, smart. When you look into him you'll find out he is openly gay.

"I always wanted a gay Jerome. It would have killed Victor, but luckily for all of us Victor is dead so he'll never have the chance to try to guilt and shame Lucas into being something he's not."

"I know. You're right. You need to sleep before the twin tornadoes wake up, and I need to head home, even though I told her not to worry, that if it got late, I'd stay here. If I don't come home she'll think you having to go to the office had something to do with the trafficking case."

"At least we can honestly say it really had nothing to do with the human trafficking case. So that much is the truth. It really was me going over old case files. Tell her thanks for the dinner invite and we'll bring dessert. I am really looking forward to meeting her girls and Danny. Try to get some sleep. We'll figure this out. At least you know he grew up with good parents who loved him and treated him well. There is nothing for you to feel guilty about here."

"There will be if Cheryl was killed because of me, to try to get Julian to come out of hiding to claim his son. In 1990, people would have known if Lucas was proven not to be Robert Scorpio's son, that meant he was mine. She may have been killed by someone trying to get me to come out of hiding."

"We don't know that is what happened. It is one of a dozen theories surrounding this case that we brainstormed. But Derek just in case someone out there never bought the 'Julian Jerome was killed in a shoot-out' story, I think to be on the safe side you need to hold off on telling Alexis and Sam the truth. Just for now, just until we can rule that out. The last thing we want is Alexis, Sam, the girls, and Danny in danger because of Jerome family history or enemies."

"If any of them got hurt because of the connection to the Jerome family, I would..."

"I know, and please don't finish that sentence. I am a federal agent. By the way, I love saying, 'I'm a federal agent,' because I imagine Olivia and Victor turning over in their graves every single time I say it. Derek, you need to try to get some sleep. It's been less than 6 hours since you found out about Lucas. Give yourself time to process it. You're in shock. It is like when I found out I was having twins, even though I was a twin and Lorenzo was a twin, for some reason, we just thought we'd be having one baby. You went from child-free to two adult children in less than a year. If you weren't reeling a little I would want to have you committed."

Derek left and headed home, and just like he thought Alexis was awake waiting for him, sitting in bed going over notes from her meeting with some of the Riussian girls earlier..

"Wow, you are late, it's after midnight. Was there an issue with the human trafficking case? "

"It had nothing to do with that case. Caroline needed to look at some files. She's the Special Agent in Charge of the Port Charles office. She is looking at more than one case. She isn't going to always be able to tell us much, if anything about what she is doing. There have been times when I didn't know where she was or what she was doing. By the way, she said thank you for the dinner invitation, they would love to come, and will be bringing dessert. I told her to come at 6."

"She's busy. She just moved, she's taking over the local FBI office, she doesn't have to bring anything. Lord knows if you weren't doing the cooking, I'd be serving popcorn."

Walking into the bathroom to get ready for bed, "She's like me. She likes to cook. Baking relieves stress for her. Her kitchen is always the first room she sets up. You should see it. It looks like the Food Network could film in it. If she wasn't an FBI agent she would have gone to culinary school and become some world class chef or baker. If we play our cards right, Thanksgiving will be at her place and she'll tell us to bring wine. She loves that whole holiday, 'cooking enough food for an army' thing."

"Should we tell her about Sam's father being Julian Jerome? I mean should she know since she is an FBI agent? Especially since the Jerome crime family was part of Port Charles?"

Derek walked back in from the bathroom, "I thought you didn't want to talk about it? Do you want to talk to her about it? Do you want to go ahead and tell Sam?"

"Derek, I don't know what I want to do. I mean the Jerome family had a lot of enemies. If it gets out that Sam and Danny are Jeromes, they could be in danger. Maybe I should never tell her."

As he got into the bed, he said, "I guess it probably could be dangerous if word got out that Sam is a Jerome. It could be dangerous for all of you, not just Sam and Danny. It has been a rough few days for the Davis family. I think you need to sleep. We can talk to Caroline if you want to, or I can just ask her what she thinks. You know get her professional opinion."

"I think we definitely should talk to your sister. Maybe we can get the kids all occupied and talk to her on the deck after dinner." Alexis put her papers on the night stand and turned off the lamp. "And, by the way, I'm not sleepy," as she rolled over and kissed him.


	27. Chapter 27

Derek climbed in the shower at 5 AM. 10 hours ago, he found out he had a grown son. For the past few hours he had been wondering if maybe Cheryl's car accident wasn't just an accident, but maybe she had been killed an it had been made to look like an accident to find out if Julian Jerome was actually dead. If she had been murdered, since he had never claimed his son, whoever had her killed took that to mean Julian was in fact dead. Lucas was allowed to live and had never been harmed because Julian Jerome had stayed dead all these years.

He wondered if Lucas knew he was a Jerome. He wondered if Lucas had been raised to believe he was lucky Julian died and didn't raise him. Hell, maybe Lucas was lucky. If he had known, if he had tried to be a father to Lucas after Cheryl's death, Lucas might have been killed by a Jerome enemy before he reached adulthood. Lucas, Sam, Danny, Alexis, Kristina, and Molly could all be used against him if the truth came out.

In 24-hours he had gone from being determined to tell them the truth to wondering if telling them would get them killed. He had to talk to Caroline. They had to get someone in Phoenix to look into Cheryl's death.

The shower door opened, Alexis walked in, closed the door behind her, looking at him with a grin, "You want to help me wash my back?"

An hour later he was in his car heading to the office, leaving the Davis women getting ready for their day. On his way he called his sister, "I need to see you ASAP. I'll meet you at your office at 8."

He explained to her that Alexis was going to ask her professional opinion about whether or not to tell Sam that Julian Jerome was her father, to ask whether or not it might endanger Sam and Danny if the world found out Julian Jerome had a child and grandchild.

"I'll tell her what I told you, that I need to look into things and just don't tell Sam right now. Derek, I don't know anything more now than I did at midnight. I got up, I baked a cake and a pie, my children woke up, I got them fed, I got them dressed, I took them to preschool, and I came to work. I have only had 3 cups of coffee and I haven't looked at anything. I haven't had a chance."

"I think we need somebody in Phoenix to look at Cheryl's death."

"You think _we_ need to? Or you think I need to? Derek, I do know how to do my job. I'm as good of an investigator and at weeding out criminals as you are raiding corporations. I might even be better at my job. I've been doing my job longer than Derek Wells has been doing his. I know you're worried but you need to take a step back. If you go around hell bent for leather trying to protect people who aren't in danger, you are going to cause people to look at you harder."

"I know you know how to do your job. You are brilliant at it. It's just that this is my family. They might be in danger."

Caroline sighed, "Derek, I know. You never got to experience the terror of driving your newborns home from the hospital. Lorenzo – the man who jumps out of planes and regularly infiltrates major criminal organizations – was terrified. He drove about 10 miles an hour. You are playing worried daddy catch up. Don't forget, they are my family too. Just like you would protect my children, I'm going to protect yours. I promise. I will leave no stone unturned. But give me time. If I go in and start demanding information right _now_, people are going to wonder why. There is a method to the madness."

Derek nodded. "I know you know what you are doing."

Caroline walked over and stood beside him, "See that computer over there on my desk? With that computer and my security clearance, I can get my hands and eyes on reports from every police department in the country. I am going to get to Cheryl's accident report and her autopsy. I hope to get to it today, but I have to do the work that the United States taxpayers are paying me to do. You have a publishing empire to run and I have asses to kick legally. I have to go observe the continued questioning of guys who got busted Halloween night trying to sell girls. But first one Ric Lansing requested the honor of my presence at a meeting at 10 this morning."

"What the hell does he want?"

"Who knows? But I guess I'll find out. Go to work. I'll call you if I find out anything. I promise."

8 hours later, after meetings and conference calls, Derek's phone rang, he saw it was Caroline, and picked it up immediately. The only thing she said was, "Meet me at my office in 10 minutes."

Derek showed up and Caroline instructed her staff, not to interrupt unless there was a natural disaster or a terrorist attack.

"Derek, word around town among the criminal element is that Julian Jerome may not be so dead after all."

"What? Which criminal is saying that?"

"I heard it first from Ric Lansing this morning. He went to see Sonny in the psychiatric facility and said Sonny is pumped full of drugs, but had moments when he seemed really lucid. Sonny kept claiming his guys had word Julian Jerome was back in town. Ric wanted to know if I thought it was possible. I told him no, Julian Jerome had been dead for almost a quarter of a century. Hell, I think even Ric even wrote it off as the ranting of a lunatic."

"You heard it 'first from Ric Lansing.' That means it you've heard it more than once."

"When the agents were questioning Sonny's guys, Max and Shawn both said that word on the docks was the Jerome family was back – gambling rings, arms dealing, drugs, women. Typical when guys like them get caught red-handed. They look to blame anybody else. Hell, they'd throw their grandmother under the bus if it would keep them out of prison for the rest of their lives. Their defense attorneys may be setting up the old, 'It wasn't us it was them. We was set up,' defense."

"So what does this mean for Alexis Sam, Danny, and Lucas?"

"Derek, I read the police report. The mechanics reported a 'tear' in the brake line. I sent the pictures to the best guy about this type of thing. I am trying to track down the actual brake line, but it was over 20 years ago. Who knows if it is still around? It was considered an accident."

"So Cheryl was murdered because of me?"

"I don't know that yet. I don't know that she was murdered. A lot of things can cause a tear in the brake line. A rock, a nail, running over stuff on the road. "

"That's what makes it so easy to stage a murder to look like a simple car accident?"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. I need to find Ava. I need to talk to her.

"She went to New York to her gallery. She'll be gone until Monday."

"The hell she will. I'll have the New York City field office bring her in and I'll have her brought back here."

"What does Ava have to do with Cheryl?"

"She was in Phoenix the day before Cheryl's accident."


	28. Chapter 28

"What does Ava have to do with Cheryl?" Derek asked.

"She was in Phoenix the day before Cheryl's accident," Caroline answered.

Derek's face paled, "Are you sure?"

"Derek, if I wasn't sure I wouldn't have told you."

"Do you actually think Ava would know how to tamper with a brake line?"

"I wouldn't put it past her to have learned. You have to admit Ava being in Phoenix the day before a faulty brake line caused Cheryl to wreck is way too much of a coincidence. I'm not saying she did the work herself, I'm saying it isn't out of the realm of possibility that she paid someone to tamper with the line."

"But why would she kill Cheryl?"

"I don't know that she did. I don't want to tip her off until I hear back from my guy after he looks at the pictures of the brake line."

"So she may have had Cheryl killed. Did she walso arrange for Lucas to be stolen and sold?"

"Slow down. We don't know that she did anything to Cheryl or Lucas. If Ava did pay someone to kill Cheryl, and she knows, or even thinks we're on to her, she is going to being screaming from the rooftops that Julian Jerome is alive and changed his name to Derek Wells in 1990."

Derek closed his eyes as if praying.

Caroline continued, "I have to wait until I talk to my guy about the line before I get agents in the city to pick her up. Like I said, I don't want to tip her off until I know something more. If you can't play it cool if and when you talk to her, ignore her calls."

"You just said it was way too much of a coincidence that Ava was in Phoenix the day before Cheryl's accident."

"Derek, I know and maybe it is more the fact that Ava and I have been at each other's throats since before we were born more than any hard evidence. If I walked into court with the only evidence being, 'she was in town the day before a woman had a car accident,' I would be laughed out of court. I am hoping against hope that the brake line from Cheryl's car is in an evidence box in a store room in Phoenix. But Derek, even if it is, we may have a heard time tying her to it. Mobsters and hitmen don't have long shelf lives. If someone physically tampered with the brake line, that person might be long gone."

"If Ava hurts them…"

"Derek, we have security on them 24/7. They know they have security because of Kristina's connection to Sonny, but they have no idea how much security they have. Hell, you have no idea how much security they have or you have. I have agents who haven't seen their families in months, since you told me Sam is your daughter, because my agents are keeping you and your family safe. I don't think you know how good that team is at keeping people safe. They know about the team we want them to know about, and no more. I called and got Lucas security as soon as I found out about him, and when I found out about Ava being in Phoenix before Cheryl's accident, Lucas got even more security."

"Caroline, Ava has been seething because of Sam's romance with Silas Clay. I have had to remind her of what happened when Olivia crossed me."

"Derek, I have it covered. I swear on my children's lives, I will keep your children as safe as I keep mine. And please keep in mind the nanny I hired is a retired FBI agent."

"Didn't you also NOT teach your children not to talk to strangers, but taught them to tell people, 'My Mommy is an FBI agent,' and hand out your business card."

Caroline smiled, "Exactly. By the way, that is great fun in stores, museums, parks, and at church. I am pretty sure their preschool teachers are terrified of them falling down at school for fear they'll be raided if either Joseph of Frances get a bruise." She looked at him, "Derek, Ava is under surveillance. I cannot tell you everything, but I can tell you while I don't have enough to want to get agents to talk to her, I have enough to watch her and watch her closely."

"Really?"

"Would you like to know where she's having dinner tonight and the name of her conquest from last night?"

"Is it different ordering surveillance of your sister than it is anybody else? Is she the same as any other suspect?"

"Derek, I am the first to admit, there is no love lost between Ava and me. You and mama were the only ones in the family that ever felt like family. When I heard Olivia was dead, I felt nothing. When I heard Victor was dead, I felt nothing. I expect the same thing if I outlive Ava. It is weird when I see Joseph and Frances. They are so tight. They are best friends. When Joseph had to get stitches, Frances cried more than he did. He ended up comforting her. Same thing when she gets hurt. She ends up comforting him. I think they feel each other's pain more than they feel their own. With Ava, it is like I don't know her. Like I've never met her. It doesn't feel like we're sisters and it sure doesn't feel like we're twins, but I want this gnawing feeling in my gut to be wrong."

"When was the last time you were wrong?"

"Well, I shouldn't have married Grant 3 years ago."

"When was the last time your gut was wrong about an investigation? Or about the Jeromes?"

"There's a first time for everything."

"Caroline, I am sorry I didn't get them to send you to a school near Dartmouth. I know it felt like they were, we all were, choosing Ava over you, but we weren't. We felt like we needed her to be kept close to the family so she could be watched. I should have been…"

"Derek, you're my brother, not my father. Charleston and Ashley Hall were exactly what I needed. If I had stuck around I might have ended up like Olivia and Ava. I have done what I set out to do."

"And you did it without us, without any of us ever helping you. You walked away when you were a baby and never looked back."

"I wasn't a baby. I've always been independent. But Mama and you got Victor to send me to Charleston. I wish she had gone with me, maybe she'd still be alive if she had. But when I walked away from the family, Mama was dead, and the only other person I cared about was in deep with the Jeromes. I didn't want that life. I wanted the opposite of that life and that meant walking away from you as well as the rest of them. Other than the day the twins were born, the best day of my life was the day you called and said you wanted out."

"If I hadn't waited so long maybe Cheryl wouldn't have run away and she might still be alive..."

"Cheryl was in love with Robert Scorpio, and maybe if he had returned her feelings and hadn't cared that Lucas wasn't his son she might be alive. And maybe if you had left earlier and you and Cheryl would have gotten married, but you wouldn't have met Alexis and her family. You might not have been anywhere near Port Charles to be swabbed and Danny might be dead right now. You have to let go of the guilt. Cheryl left you, whatever her reasons, she fell in love with someone else and left. With Olivia, it was kill or get killed. With Ava, it is play or get played. We cannot turn back time and change things."

"So now what do we do?"

"We go have dinner with your family. If you want me to tell you how it is going to go when you tell Alexis and Sam everything, I can't. If you want me to tell you that after a few hours, they'll understand, I can't. Tell them everything, tell them the truth, tell them you are sorry it took you this long, and then you have to give them time to process it, to be mad at you, and to hopefully forgive you. But I can't tell you how to tell them or when to tell them."

"What about the bureau?"

"Derek, they've tied your hands since 1990. I'm untying them. If it costs me my job, it costs me my job. Claim your family."


	29. Chapter 29

Caroline and the twins got to the house for dinner sharply at 6.

Molly and Kristina led Joseph, Frances, and Danny to the playroom while Sam and Alexis watched Derek and Caroline in the kitchen.

"I feel kind of guilty that we invited you and you are helping to cook," Alexis told Caroline.

"Don't feel guilty. I love this. I just hope my children are behaving and not showing off. I am sure Joseph is trying to impress your gorgeous girls. And Frances is probably trying to teach Danny to read."

"She can already read? Isn't she only 4?" Sam asked.

Derek answered, "They both can. They take after their mother. Caroline was reading by her 4th birthday. They are always reading or doing puzzles. The TV amazes them because she so rarely turns it on for them."

Caroline smiled, "If memory serves my big brother is the one who taught me to read. Derek read to me every night. He always talked to me like I was a peer, no baby talk. He never complained when I was following him around. He would let me sit in his room while he did homework and it rubbed off on me. He read textbooks out loud to me while he studied."

Derek laughed, "There is no bedtime story quite like calculus."

Sam smiled, "Have you two always been close? Sometimes when there's a big age difference siblings barely know each other."

Caroline answered, "Basically. When I turned 15, after our mother died, there was some teen angst, and I wanted nothing to do with anybody whose death would destroy me like hers did. My mind was totally focused on becoming an FBI agent."

"Their father is an agent also? And the nanny you hired is a retired agent?" Sam asked.

"Yes, on both counts. Their new nanny is actually the woman who was my supervisor at one point. She became like a second mother and has been like a grandmother to my children. I just need someone there if I have to leave in the middle of the night or for several days."

Derek interrupted, "Okay ladies the lasagna is ready the bread is ready, and the salad is made. Get the kids and let's get them fed. Sam got up to go get the kids and Derek told Caroline, "Molly and Kristina somehow talked me into asking Carlos, Tim, and a couple of the other guys to go to the movies to see some foreign film. I'm having to pay them an extra $100 each."

Alexis raised her eyebrows, "Kristina has developed a crush on Tim. Tell Carlos not to let her sit beside Tim. I've talked Sam into going too so she can keep her eye on the situation." She looked at Caroline and said, "Doe eyes and everything. He's a nice guy, but her boyfriend broke up with her so she is vulnerable."

Caroline laughed, "I'd develop a crush on him too if I wasn't old enough to be his mother. Alexis, I have screened all of Derek's employees, Kristina could do a whole lot worse, but if he is interested, he knows she is off limits because he was hired to keep her safe, not to date her."

Pretty soon the food was gone and it was time for the group going to the foreign film to leave. When they left, Derek went to help the twin sand Danny clean up the playroom while Alexis and Caroline were cleaning. As they were cleaning up, Alexis looked at Caroline and asked, "Do you see what I mean about the way Kristina looks at Tim? She glows when she's around him."

"I saw. I think they would be cute together, but not while he is protecting her. This was so much fun tonight, but I need to get my two home, so you two can get Danny to bed."

"Derek, why don't you walk them out to the car and I'll get Danny in the bath."

After Derek and Caroline got the kids in the car, Caroline looked at her brother, "Once Danny is down, you two will be alone for at least 2 hours. You might not get a better chance to tell her than this. Take it. Tell her. You know where I am if you need me."

Derek watched her drive away. He walked in and poured himself a bourbon and walked to the bathroom. He stood in the doorway and watched as Alexis bathed their grandson, willing himself not to cry. Danny spotted him and started yammering and splashing. Alexis laughed and said, "Derek, will you get this little monkey in his pajamas while I clean up this mess?"

Derek got Danny ready for bed and sat down in the rocking chair to read to him. Danny exhausted from his night chasing after and playing with the older children, quickly fell asleep. Derek sat rocking and holding Danny, kissing the top of his head, and telling him how much he loved him.

"Derek, he's out. Put him in the bed and I'll go fix us a drink. We have a couple of hours before the girls get back from the movie. I haven't forgotten that you wanted me to pencil you into my calendar for some alone time. I just checked my calendar. You're penciled in right now."

Alexis left the room and Derek got up and put Danny in his crib, "I love you little man. I hope you know that. No matter what your Mommy and Grandma feel about me after they know, I hope you never doubt how much I love all of you."

Derek closed Danny's bedroom door and walked down the hall to the family room where Alexis was waiting.

"Tonight was fun. I like your sister. And your niece and nephew are too precious. I think everybody hit it off. Once again, you outdid yourself with dinner. And your sister should really open a bakery if this whole FBI thing doesn't work out for her. I may need you to talk to Tim about what Kristina. Caroline thinks he won't cross the line and make it personal."

"Alexis, I need to tell you something. I have wanted to tell you this for months, but we there were interruptions and orders, and I didn't know how."

"Derek, are you okay? You aren't sick are you?"

"Alexis I'm fine. I need you to sit down and listen, please."

"Derek, you're scaring me. Is it the girls or Danny?"

"It's about me. And you, Sam, and Danny. Remember when we found out I was a a match for Danny?"

"Derek, of course I remember. It was the best day of my life."

"You told me about how you met Sam's father – in New Hampshire. And you told me about the bar and being in the car with him. Alexis, I remembered what you were telling me. I was the one in that car with you. I'm Sam's father."

"Derek, you may have had sex in a car in the parking lot of a bar in New Hampshire, but Sam's father is Julian Jerome. I found the matchbook he wrote his name and number on for me in 1979. Sweetie, I told you this."

"Alexis, I became Derek Wells in 1990. In 1979 my name was Julian. I used to be Julian Jerome."


	30. Chapter 30

"Alexis, I became Derek Wells in 1990. In 1979 my name was Julian. I used to be Julian Jerome."

"Did the girls put you up to this? You all are a few months too early for April Fool's Day," Alexis said as she got up and poured herself another glass of wine.

"Remember the night we met at the Floating Rib, I told you I thought you looked familiar?"

"Derek, it was a line. A line you've probably used with hundreds of women. Hopefully, none lately," said Alexis as she finished her glass of wine and poured another.

"You were sitting at the bar. I walked in with my friends. The men in the bar were leering at you. My friends and I noticed you right away. You were wearing a red blouse and a black skirt. We thought you were pretty, too pretty to be in there with a bunch of old guys leering at you. We decided to keep our eyes on you so you wouldn't get yourself in trouble."

"Why in the world are you telling me this?"

"I caught you looking at me. We made eye contact. I walked over to the bar and sat down next to you. I looked at you and said, 'My name is Julian. Could I buy you a drink?' You said I could so I asked, 'So what is someone as pretty as you doing in this bar all by yourself? Did you and your boyfriend have a fight?' We talked for a couple of hours and then we went outside. It was cold, and I put my leather jacket over your shoulders. I asked you if you wanted me to take you back to school right then and you said you were having the most fun you had ever had in your life."

Alexis almost pleading, with tears in her eyes, "Derek, I don't understand why you are doing this."

"I've wanted to tell you this since the minute I found out about Sam, I need to finish telling you."

"I don't want to hear anymore," Alexis said as she got up and walked to the counter where the wine bottle sat opened.

"Alexis, you need to know. That night, 34 years ago, I noticed you were shaking so I asked you if you wanted to go wit in the car so we could be warm, listen to music and not have to put up with the noise from the bar. As soon as I started the car, the song _Bad Girls_ came on and you squealed and thought it was a sign because you loved that song. I was having so much fun with you."

Derek looked at Alexis, whose back was to him as she stood shaking her head. He continued telling her the story of their daughter's conception.

"I'm not sure how long we sat in that car kissing, but I knew we needed to stop. There was no doubt in his mind you were a virgin and I had no business taking your virginity in my car, in the parking lot of a bar. I tried to stop myself, I even told you, 'We need to stop. We shouldn't do this here, like this, not now.' I tried to put the brakes on, but you looked at me with those eyes of yours and told me, 'I don't want to stop,' and kissed me again."

"I started pulling your skirt up, and trying to unbutton your blouse, and I felt you tugging my shirt over my head and your hands on the waistband of my jeans. I pulled away from your kiss and said, 'You've never done this before, have you?' You shook your head no, and said, 'But I want to, with you,' and kissed me again. When I pulled away from the kiss I told you, 'If you want to stop please tell me now.' And as soon as I said it, you kissed me again. My friend started knocking on the window and said they were leaving. I pulled away from kissing you and him to go away, I was going to take you home, and I would be home after that. When my friends left I looked at you again and said, 'If we don't stop now, I won't be able to stop,' and you kissed me."

Alexis still stood with her back to him, he could see that the hand holding the wine glass was shaking as she lifted the glass to her mouth.

"After, I wanted to make sure you were okay, and I said, 'Alexis, I'm sorry if I hurt you. I think the first time always hurts girls, at least a little.' And you told me, 'You didn't. Not really. I've been hurt a lot worse.' I kissed you and helped you get dressed. I asked you if I could call you, if I could see you again, take you to dinner and a movie. You told me you didn't know if they would let you take my calls, but you would like to see me again. I drove you back to school. We sat in front of the school in my car for a little while. We joked about wishing we could run away so our families couldn't find us, and I told you I would have to take my little sister. I wrote my name and number on the matchbook and told you that any time you ever got away from school, to call me and I would meet you anytime, anywhere. It was October 26, 1979."

Alexis still had her back to him.

"Alexis, I called you. I called a lot. You were right. They wouldn't let me talk to you. I even went to the school and waited outside the gates. I tried to get messages to you. A few months later a friend's sister who went to school with you told me you had gone back to Europe. I didn't know you were pregnant. I am sorry. I had no idea. I just thought you went home, I didn't know. I wish I Had known. I wish I had been there for you. I know what the Cassadines did to you. You shouldn't have had to face that alone. If I had known, my father could have helped us. Alexis, please say something. Please turn around and look at me."

Alexis slowly turned around. What Derek saw gutted him. With tears streaming down her face, "Derek, what exactly do you want me to say? Oh wait, am I supposed to call you Derek? Or should I call you Julian? How long have you known? How long have you been lying to me? To Sam? To all of us? Have you said anything that's true?"

"Alexis, I haven't been Julian in almost 24 years. I didn't want to be Julian Jerome anymore, so I…"

"Okay, so you prefer to be called Derek. Okay, Derek, I don't really care what you did or didn't want 24 years ago. I care about the last 7, almost 8 months. When did you figure out that you were Sam's father? Did you have a DNA test done when you were doing the whole bone marrow donation thing?"

"When you told me the story about meeting Sam's father and it only being one night, right after you and Sam told me I was a match for Danny. You were telling the story and you made a comment that I looked like I had seen a ghost. I put it together then. I started to tell, you I wanted to tell you."

"You knew as soon as I told you about her conception that you were her father and you didn't say anything? You wanted to tell me, but you didn't?"

"Olivia Falconeri was having the vision about Connie getting murdered, and you went to help her."

"So it's my fault you didn't tell me and you've been lying since? Or is it Olivia's fault? Maybe it's Connie's fault for being murdered?"

"No, it was my fault."

"So you tried to tell me once and then it slipped your mind every day for the past 8 months?"

"No, of course not. I almost told you and Sam the day I met Danny for the first time. The day I found out you had investigated me."

Alexis laughed bitterly, "I guess it's a good thing I don't try to make my living as a private investigator, or my family would be homeless because I certainly didn't see any 'aka Julian Jerome' beside the name Derek Wells."

"Alexis, I wish I had told you. I wish I had tried harder to find you then. I wouldn't have abandoned you and Sam."

Alexis laughed sarcastically, "Oh God, like some kid would have stood a chance against the Cassadines. Mikkos and Stavros would have killed you. Though Helena may have helped you just to get rid of me."

"Alexis, I know I should have told you. I wanted to. I tried to, I started to so many times and somehow we always got interrupted."

"It's funny how we never got interrupted during sex, only when you were going to tell me the truth."

"Alexis, the Jeromes have enemies, lots of enemies. I was afraid if people knew about you, Sam, Danny, and the girls would be in danger. Alexis, I love you. You, Sam, the girls, and Danny are my world. I know I should have told you. I wish to God I had told you months ago. Please, I'll do whatever I can to prove to you how much I love you. I'll do anything to make this right. Please just tell me what to do."

"Get out. Don't you think about telling Sam. I'll decide if she knows. I'll tell the girls you won't be around anymore." Alexis walked up to him and began pushing him towards the door, "Just leave. Get out! I don't care where you go. Just leave. I cannot look at you or hear your voice one more second! Get out of my house now!"

She pushed him out the door and slammed it shut. He heard her lock it. Derek sat down on the front porch and listened to Alexis sob uncontrollably inside the house for 30 minutes. Knowing the movie would be ending, he pulled out his phone and sent Sam a text, "Danny's fine. Your mom needs you. I'm sorry."

He knew he needed to leave so he'd be gone when the girls came home. They would have too many questions Alexis didn't want him to answer.

He got in his car and a minute later he was at Caroline's door. She opened the door and as she pulled him into a hug, he told her, "I've lost her. I've lost all of them," and started crying.


	31. Chapter 31

They sat on the sofa, "Derek, tell me exactly what happened," Caroline gently said.

"I told her everything and she told me to get out. Not to tell Sam, she'd decide if she wanted Sam to know."

"Derek, she just needs time to process it. You laid a lot on her. You had to know she wasn't going to be happy you've kept this from her. She loves you. You messed up and messed up badly. But it isn't so easy to just stop loving someone just because they mess up, no matter how much they disappoint you."

"They are the best things in my life. I never knew how much I wanted a family until I found them."

"Derek, I know. Did you tell her you were under orders from the Justice Department not to tell anyone who you used to be?"

"That's just an excuse. We both know I am not one to follow orders and never have been."

He walked over to the bar and poured himself a glass of bourbon. He felt her watching him so he told her, "I heard her crying. I was outside and I heard her. I've never heard anyone cry like that. Deep, guttural cries, it sounded like she was in physical pain." He downed his drink and poured another. "I sent Sam a text. I told her Danny was fine but her mother needed her and that I'm sorry."

Caroline didn't respond to him, but he heard her on the phone, "Get Sam home now, but keep Molly and Kristina out." There was a pause then he heard her continue"I don't care how. Just do it. That's an order. Just get Sam home and keep the other two out, just for a little while longer. Make sure Sam knows Danny is fine."

Derek downed another drink and poured a third.

He heard his sister's voice, "Derek, what if Sam calls you and wants to know what the hell is going on?"

"She won't. Once she knows Danny is okay, she'll be focused on her mother. Those two are so close. Sometimes I forget Alexis didn't get to raise her," he drank his drink and poured another. "I've lost them both now. I waited too long."

"Derek, you have to give Alexis time. Sam doesn't even know yet."

"Sam may never know. Alexis may decide not to tell her. My daughter and grandson will end up hating me as much as Alexis does," he said as he put the glass to his mouth.

"Sam is not going to hate you. You saved Danny. She is going to be upset when she finds out. Alexis won't keep this from her. But she won't hate you."

"Alexis will. I took her virginity, got her pregnant, and left her to face the wrath of the Cassadines all alone."

"Derek, you didn't know she was pregnant. You tried to find her, you tried to call her. I am willing to bet I know more about the Cassadines than you do. At 18, 19, 20 years-old, you would have been no match for their particular brand of crazy."

"Victor could have helped."

"Derek, for God's sake, I am no fan of Victor Jerome, I hate everything he stood for, but compared to the Cassadines, Victor was about as ferocious as a hummingbird. You weren't there for her because you didn't know."

"If Alexis tells Sam, she will hate me."

"Derek, you are imagining the worst case scenario. Sam will know you are her father. She will know you are Danny's grandfather. She has seen the man you are now. She knows that you saved her son. She is going to be mad. She is going to be hurt, but she will not hate you."

"I just experienced the worst case scenario,. You didn't see her face. I broke her heart. I broke her. God, I wish I forget the sound of her crying after she pushed me out the door."

"Derek, you had just dropped a bomb on her. You have to give her time. It has only been a couple of hours now."

Caroline's phone rang. He heard her talking on it, but it was almost like she was speaking a foreign language, he couldn't focus on listening to what she was saying to whomever was on the other end of the phone.

"Derek, that was Carlos. Sam's with Alexis now. Molly and Kristina are with Tim, and a few of the other guys. They are seeing a double feature. Everybody is fine."

Derek downed another drink, "Alexis won't be happy. She's worried about Kristina's crush on Tim. And another movie will put Molly home way past her curfew, even though it is the weekend."

"Derek, Sam said it was okay. Carlos explained to her that Alexis needed her home alone for a little while. Tim knows there is a line he cannot cross. He's only a couple of years older than Kristina, and he is too focused on his job and impressing his boss, and right now that's me. He's a good kid. I'd trust him with my own children."

"Why didn't I tell her as soon as I knew? Why didn't I just tell her when she told me about the night Sam was conceived?" He looked at his sister. "You need to go to bed. I'm going to the Metro Court. I need to be alone and I still have my room there. Most of my things are still there. I hadn't completely moved in with Alexis and the girls yet."

"Derek, you aren't going anywhere. You've been drinking bourbon like it is water. We have plenty of room here. And don't think you are going to sneak out of here if I do go to bed because I took your keys from you when you walked in. You are going to stay here. I'll get your things from the Metro Court in the morning. I know you want to be alone, so I'll go to bed. You know where I am if you need me. I love you. It will be okay." And she went to her room.

Derek grabbed the bottle of bourbon, walked to the sofa, sat down, and poured himself another glass. He closed his eyes and all he saw was her face, pain etched so clearly, tears streaming, her cries echoing in his ears. So he just kept drinking until the bottle was empty. He closed his eyes.

He heard Caroline's voice and felt her pull his arm. He knew she was helping him down the hall. And he felt her guide him to the bed. As he tried to argue with her, she put something in his hand and he heard her say, "Take these. Good Lord Derek, I don't even have to force medicine down the children's throats. Take the damn Advil. I'm putting the bottle beside your bed. There are also a couple of bottles of water. I'll see you in the morning." He looked at the clock, it said it was 6 AM, and he closed his eyes again.

He heard a door close, his head pounding, for a moment he forgot where he was and what happened the night before, and thought he might have woken up with the flu. Then he remembered and the pain was no longer just in his head, and his heart hurt far worse than his head. He opened his eyes. He looked at the clock. It was 10 AM.

He walked out of the room and saw his luggage in the den. He walked into the kitchen. Caroline handed him a cup of coffee and quietly said, "We went and got your things. You smell like a distillery. Go take a shower and when you get out, I'll have breakfast for you."

30 minutes later he was trying to force down bacon, eggs, and hashbrowns. Caroline was hovering, "Derek, you need to eat. That hangover isn't going to go away without food on your stomach. Take these vitamins and drink your juice."

Caroline and the kids were in and out of the house most of the day. She said something about soccer and the kids having a game. She told them maybe Uncle Derek could go to the next one but he wasn't feeling well today. She reminded him they had to go pick up Nana at the airport. He had forgotten the nanny was coming today. The nanny they thought of as a grandmother because they didn't have one.

Caroline came in with groceries after soccer, then she and the twins were gone again, they were going to the airport. As they left, he heard her telling the kids they would eat dinner and watch movies tonight. He heard her telling them that yes, they could pop popcorn and drink hot chocolate.

He heard them come in a couple of hours later, with the twins trying to be quiet, but their excitement over "Nana" was too much. He went out to say hello to the older woman and she told him she was sorry he wasn't feeling well and to go lie back down, that they would have plenty of time to catch up.

A couple of hours later he heard a knock at his bedroom door and his niece and nephew's voices telling him dinner was ready. He knew if he didn't go, Caroline would show up in his room and force him to try to eat. So he went, operating on auto-pilot. The kids wanted him to watch the movie, so he did. When the movie was over, he heard his sister tell the kids it was time for bed, they had church in the morning,

The house was quiet, and as he got in the bed, he couldn't remember his heart ever feeling like it did. He hadn't just broken her heart, he had broken his own too.

The next morning Derek smelled coffee, pancakes, and bacon. Once again for a moment, he forgot all that had happened, then the pain jolted him back into reality. He took a shower and went into the kitchen. Caroline and Nana were drinking coffee while the children ate. He fixed his coffee. Caroline put a plate of food in front of him, "Eat."

He ate then he went to his room. Caroline wanted him to unpack the things from his luggage and put them away. He heard talking and thought he must have fallen asleep and was dreaming because he could have sworn he heard Sam's voice. Then he wondered if in the 36 hours since his world imploded, if he had lost his mind.

There was a knock on the door and he heard Caroline, "Derek, Sam's here. She wants to see you."


	32. Chapter 32

_Sam's perspective_

Samantha Morgan sat on the sofa in Caroline's den waiting on Derek. The past day and a half flashed through her mind. Friday night's dinner, everything had been perfect. Molly and Kristina had wanted to see a movie, some foreign film with subtitles. Their mother had been worried about the obvious crush Kristina had developed on one of the security guys Derek had hired when all of the mess with Morgan confession and Sonny's break with reality happened. Tim seemed nice enough, but he worked for Derek and she was sure Tim knew he would be out of a job if he crossed a line with Kristina. To make their mother feel better she agreed to go along and keep her eye on them. Plus, it would give her mother and Derek some time alone, except for Danny whose nights in the hospital had taught him to sleep through anything and sleep through the night most of the time.

The movie ended and she turned on her phone to make sure there hadn't been a text from her mother or Derek about Danny. It seemed like she heard Carlos on the phone at the same time she saw the text from Derek. "Danny is fine. You mother needs you. I'm sorry." What in the hell did that mean? She started to call him, but Carlos walked up to her and said, "Sam, I need to get you home. We need Molly and Kristina to stay out. Danny is fine. Your mom needs to talk to you without your sisters there."

While Carlos talked to the other security guys with them, she found herself nodding and saying, "No, you two stay out. I just want to be home with Danny," to her sisters. Then Carlos had her in the Expedition and she was on her way home.

She and Carlos had gotten to the house. She wasn't sure if he had actually gotten the car to a complete stop before she jumped out and ran to the house. She opened the door, saying, "Mom? Mom? Are you okay? Derek sent me a…." but what she saw stopped her cold - her mother, on the floor sobbing.

"Mama, what happened? Please tell me. What's wrong? Whatever happened we can fix it. We can make it better."

She tried and she couldn't get Alexis up off the floor. If she hadn't gotten the text from him, she would have been afraid something had happened to Derek. She got up went to the door and yelled for Carlos to help her get her mother up and to her room. She stood there watching as Carlos walked in, picked her mother up, and then with her mother in his arms , Carlos followed Sam to the bedroom. Sam pulled the covers down and Carlos placed Alexis on the bed. He said, "I'm just outside if you need anything," and then he was gone.

Sam climbed on the bed with Alexis, "Mom, please talk to me. What happened?" Her mother suddenly seemed to realize Sam was there. She asked about Kristina and Molly, Sam told her that they wanted to see another movie and she had said it was okay. Alexis had just nodded.

"Mom, what happened after we left? Did you and Derek have a fight? What in the world did Derek and you argue about?"

Alexis started crying again, "We didn't argue. He has been lying the entire time we've known him."

That had confused Sam, "What do you mean he's lied the entire time we've known him? What has he lied about? Mom, he loves you. He loves all of us."

"Sam, his name isn't really Derek Wells. I guess legally it is. But he's only been Derek Wells since 1990. Before that he was Julian Jerome, the mobster. In 1979, he was in New Hampshire at a bar named McCoy's. I was at that same bar. I lost my virginity to him and had you. You are the best thing Julian Jerome, Derek Wells, or whatever he wants to call himself, ever did."

That confused her. She wondered if her mother was having her own break with reality. "Mom, slow down. Tell me exactly what happened. What are you talking about? Derek Wells is the man who saved Danny. He's the man you've fallen in love with, the one who is head over heels in love with you." And then Alexis told her exactly what happened while she and her sisters had been at the movies.

Sam heard the words her mother was saying, but they didn't make sense, and then suddenly, she understood. Why hadn't he told them as soon as he knew? Did he not want her as a daughter? Why didn't he just say he was Julian? She was shocked, but the more she had thought about it the more the pieces fit together.

She had slept on her mother's bed holding her, her mind racing and not allowing a real sleep. The next morning she told her sisters that Alexis and Derek had an argument, but it would be okay. She told them not to ask Alexis anything, she would tell them when she was ready. Kristina asked if Derek had cheated on Alexis, and Sam told her not to be ridiculous, of course, he hadn't. Alexis didn't leave her room all day Saturday. She had taken some food into her and was happy to see that she had showered and gotten dressed, but was sitting by the window simply staring at the lake.

By midnight Saturday she had decided she would go see Derek the next day and ask him. So that brought her to Caroline's door. Caroline had opened the door and asked her in. She had gone to get Derek.

He walked into the den. Damn, he looked he had been hit by a bus. She had to fight her instinct to run up and hug him. He looked lost. He looked gutted. He looked like he physically hurting. He looked like a man who had nothing left.

Caroline, the children, and an older woman, she guessed the nanny, headed out the door. Caroline said they were going to church, then Caroline touched her arm and said, "Try and go a little easy on him. You can't beat him up anymore than he's been beating himself up," she had smiled at Sam and closed the door behind her.

Sam and Derek looked at each other. Derek had begun to say something to her, "Sam, I …"

"Don't. Just tell me, what am I supposed to call you? Derek? Julian? Dad?"


	33. Chapter 33

The words rang in his ears, "Just tell me what am I supposed to call you? Derek? Julian? Dad?" This was not how this was supposed to go. If he had told them that day in the hospital, any of the days in the hospital, this would not be happening. He wouldn't have broken their hearts.

"I am sure there are worse things you want to call me, but I haven't been Julian for a very long time."

"Why didn't you tell us before? When you figured it out?"

"I almost did. I wanted to tell you. I almost told you so many times. Sam, how's your mother?"

"How in the hell do you think she is? A high school drop-out and former con artist not your idea of a perfect daughter? Is that why you never said anything?"

"Oh God, no! Sam, you are perfect, so much like your mother. There is no one I would rather have as a daughter. I love you. Whatever you think about me, please know that your mother, you, Danny, and your sisters are the best things that ever happened to me. I look at you and I see the little girl I never got to know. I knew I had to protect you. The Jeromes have enemies. You are safer if no one knows you are a Jerome."

"So is Caroline really your sister, or is she just your handler, or whatever?" Sam ask bitterly.

"She's really my sister. She was born better than the rest of us. She had a moral compass the rest of us lacked. I was a lot like her before I got sucked into the life. She ran away and I stayed and got sucked in. She was born smarter, better."

"The night you met mom?"

"I was a student at Dartmouth. Sam, I tried to find her. I called but the school wouldn't let me talk to her. I even waited outside the gates looking for her, hoping to see her. I tried to get messages to her. I found out later that she had gone back to Europe. I didn't forget about her. I tried and I wish I had found her then. I wish I had been there for her. I wish I had known about you."

Sam looked at him and said, "You look like hell."

Derek ignored the comment, "Sam, please, how's your mother?"

Sam looked at him, tears in her eyes, "She's doing about as well as you are. She hasn't left her room since Carlos and I got her in there. She's devastated. I found her crumpled up on the floor crying. My first thought was something had happened to you. I couldn't get her up. She wouldn't talk. I had to get Carlos to carry her to the bed."

Derek closed his eyes, "I am sorry. I am so sorry."

Sam ignored that, "Carlos, Tim, and the others on our security team?"

"They are all federal agents."

"So Caroline has known since when?"

"Since I found out."

"Derek, why did you come to Port Charles? There are lots of rumors about the Jeromes coming back to take back their old territory."

"Sam, I can't…. I'm not supposed to… oh God I don't care what they do to me, the feds got some intel that there might be a possible renewal of the Jerome family, a resurgence of the old crime family. They wanted me to contact Ava. To let her know I was alive. To see if she was behind it all."

"So Ava is your sister too?"

Derek nodded. "She and Caroline are fraternal twins. They never got along. Ava was always jealous. Caroline was tiny, sweet, and so calm. Caroline almost died at birth. The cord got wrapped around her neck. Caroline says Ava was trying to strangle her. She was 2 pounds smaller than Ava, the tiniest little thing I had ever seen. Our father called her the runt of the family. Ava was loud, demanding, and, nothing like Caroline. Our parents ending up sending Caroline to school in Charleston because they were afraid of what Ava and Olivia would do to her after I went to college."

"So is Ava dangerous? She hasn't been happy about Silas and me seeing each other. Does she know about me? My connection to you I mean."

"She does, but she also knows I would kill her if she thought about hurting any of you. As long as she doesn't know that you know I'm your father, she'll be okay. Caroline has people watching her and guarding you."

"Silas and Ava?"

"You'll have to ask him. I wasn't in contact with her when they were together."

Sam nodded. "You know when I was little, even before I found out I wasn't really a McCall, I used to dream about my real father finding me, that maybe I had been switched at birth or kidnapped. I think all little girls dream that they are really a princess separated from their parents. I wanted someone to come and rescue me from the life of a con artist."

"Sam, if I had known, I would have tried to find you. I would have tried to be a good father. I would have wanted to be there for both you and your mother. I wouldn't have left her alone and pregnant for the Cassadines to torture her and to take you away from her. I would never have left you."

"I believe that. I really do. I've seen you. I know you love her. I've seen you with Danny. You've been great with him. You would have been a great father."

Derek's eyes filled with tears. "I think about what you must have been like as a little girl – freckles, hair in a pigtails – you would have had me wrapped around your little finger. You do now."

Sam continued, "You saved my little boy's life. He's been looking for you. He misses you. We all miss you."

"I miss all of you. More than you know. What do Molly and Kristina know?"

"Not much. Just that you and mom are arguing and mom is sad. Kristina asked me if you cheated on mom."

"Sam, I would never. There has been no one but your mother since I came back to Port Charles."

"I don't know much, but I know that. I told Kristina that was ridiculous. Looking back on everything, it all makes sense. You were so invested in Danny's recovery and in us."

Derek looked at her, "My biggest regret, and believe me I have many, but my biggest regret will always be not being there for you when you were growing up. Not seeing you come into this world, or seeing you take your first step. I didn't get to sit up with you all night when you were sick. I missed your first day of school. I missed the first time you got your heart broken. I missed everything. You know that night, when I drove your mother back to school, my gut told me to keep driving, to take her and run far away. I had just met her and wanted to run away with her. If I had known we were going to have you, I would have."

"Helena probably would have paid you to take mom away. Within a couple of years, Mikkos was dead, so maybe you could have gotten away. Or maybe Mikkos and Stavros would have slit all of our throats. It doesn't matter now. We can't know what would have happened 34 years ago, we can only guess."

"You and your mom are so close, sometimes I forget she didn't get to raise you,that they took you away from her and told her you were dead. I never knew you could love people so instantly until I met you, Danny, and your Mom. Sam, remember when you came to me about the article for the donor drive?"

Sam nodded.

"Even then, even before I knew you were my daughter. I felt connected to you. And then I saw your mother at the Floating Rib and told her I had bumped the story. She tore me a new one."

Sam smiled, "She's a lioness when it comes to protecting her family."

Derek agreed, "Yes, she is. The thing is, if anyone else had approached me the way you two did, I wouldn't have given it another thought. But you two, you two captured my heart immediately. I couldn't explain it then, but you two got under my skin. I didn't know why, I even told your mother that night, before she found out who I was that she seemed familiar. She thought it was a pick up line, I guess it was, because she is gorgeous." Sam nodded, agreeing. "When she told me she was your mother. I didn't believe her. I thought you two were sisters. I asked her if she had you when she was 12. She, you know how she is, she just looked at me and said, '16.' I thought she just looked familiar because you two looked so much alike. I don't know if I would have gotten swabbed if you two hadn't just completely stolen my heart."

Sam smiled, "But you did. And you were a perfect match. And now my little boy is going to grow up loving fast cars and single barrel bourbon. Just like his grandfather."

Derek could no longer hold back the tears. "She told me about the night you were conceived. After you told me I was a match and you went to find Silas. I knew as soon as she told me. I almost told her right then, but Olivia came out of the elevator screaming about a vision she was having of Connie's murder. I keep coming back to I just should have told you both. Do you think she'll ever forgive me?"

Sam walked over to where he was standing and hugged him. As he smoothed her hair and kissed the top of her head, she said, "We need to give her some time, but then we'll just have to make it impossible for her to stay mad at you."


	34. Chapter 34

Sam spent a couple of hours at Caroline's house talking to Derek. Shortly after the group returned from church, Sam said she needed to get back to Danny and her mother. "When I left, Carlos was trying to teach Danny Spanish. I am pretty sure I heard the word 'tequila' as I walked out the door. If my son's first word is 'tequila' I think I might cry."

Caroline insisted on Sam taking some homemade chicken soup home for the Davis family. "We have plenty. Between Nana and me, we always end up making way too much. You don't have to tell your mother where you got it, but she needs to eat."

Knowing that Sam wanted him in her life and in Danny's life helped. He missed Alexis so much that it caused a physical ache. He hadn't been back in Port Charles for a year, and he couldn't remember his life without her in it. But he had his daughter and his grandson, and he knew he had a son in Seattle. Lucas was different from Sam though, he had been raised by parents who loved him.

Sam left to go home – she needed to get back to Danny and Alexis but told them she would be in touch and promised to bring Danny by to see them. Derek walked her out to her car, carrying the food for her. "You'll let me know how she is? Please, Sam?" He noticed a couple of the agents in the car.

"I will. Make sure you take care of yourself. I'm glad Caroline is here for you."

Derek smiled, "Me too. She has always been the calm in the storm. Very even keeled, you want her there in a crisis, nothing throws her off her game. She thinks things through. I wish I was as rational as she is. The only irrational thing she has ever done was marry her ex-husband."

Sam asked, "Would you mind if I brought Danny to see you tomorrow?"

"I would love a visit from you and Danny."

"I'll call you before we come to make sure you aren't too busy."

"Sam, I will never be too busy to see you and Danny."

"It took me a while before I started calling Alexis 'mom' please don't be hurt if it I don't call you 'dad' now."

"Sam, honey, you're speaking to me. That is all that matters and is more than I hoped for or deserve."

"You're a good man. You made a mistake. It was a big one, but you are trying to fix it and make it right."

She hugged him got in the car, and he watched the agents drive her away. He walked back in the house.

"You look better than you did when we left you to go to church," Caroline told him when he came into the kitchen. "What did Sam say? How's Alexis?"

"She said Alexis is 'devastated,' that she hasn't come out of her room. Sam found her on the floor, couldn't get her up, so Carlos had to carry her so Sam could take care of her Friday night. But I suspect you already knew that."

"Derek, there was no point in telling you. There was nothing you could do. It would have just made you feel worse."

"I know. It's just I…."

"You feel helpless. I know. And if there is anything you need to know I'll tell you. I just didn't think you needed to know that when I found out. The last thing you needed was to get even more upset and make it worse."

"Sam asked if she and Danny could come see me tomorrow. She also told me that I just needed to give Alexis a little time, but then we would make it impossible for Alexis to stay mad at me."

"Derek, that's great! Father and daughter co-conspirators! For good instead of evil, unlike many of the previous conspiracies our family took part in. I would point out that I told you so, that I told you she would be mad, but wouldn't hate you, but that would be tacky," Caroline said with a wink.

"Yes, and you reminding me that you are always right isn't going to happen either, correct?"

"Far be it from me to point out the obvious. Your niece and nephew are quickly losing patience with their Uncle Derek not being any fun, so please go play a game or something with them. You aren't going to accomplish a thing as far as winning her back by continuing to mope."

Derek spent the day losing and losing badly to the twins in some game he was sure the two 4-year-olds were changing the rules to benefit themselves, football on in the background.

Sam sent him a text later Sunday night to let him know that Alexis had finally come out of the bedroom, and had actually eaten some of the soup Caroline sent. Not much, but for the first time since dinner Friday, Alexis had eaten.

The next few days were a blur as Derek spent 14 hours or more at work to try to keep his mind off of Alexis and the disaster her had made of his life with her. True to her word, Sam brought Danny to see him each day. Derek tried to give her space but called her daily, knowing she wouldn't pick up, but needing to hear her voice. Each voicemail he left was the same, "Alexis, I'm sorry. I know I should have told you right away. I love you. I'll do anything to try to make this right."

On Friday, one week since he told Alexis the truth, Sam brought Danny for their daily lunchtime visit. Derek and Danny sat on the floor and played with cars after they finished eating and Sam said, "I told Mom we've been coming to see you."

Derek looked up at her, "On a scale of 1 to Mount Vesuvius, how angry was she when you mentioned me?"

"It wasn't like that. She just kind of nodded. She told me you've been calling her, but that she hasn't answered or returned any of your calls." She looked at her father playing with her son, smiled, and continued talking, "I told her I went to see you Sunday and that we talked. I told her I wanted you to be in my life and Danny's life and I hoped she would understand and respect that."

Derek said, "Sam, I don't want to come between you and your mother. I love you both too much. If it is going to hurt her, then…"

Sam stopped him, "She isn't mad. I think she is starting to realize that you aren't going anywhere." She looked at him and smiled, "She asked me how you are doing."

He looked at her hoping she was telling him the truth, "What did you say?"

"I told her the truth. You look like crap, you've lost weight, you are spending too much time at the office, you are miserable, and you miss her. You want to know how she responded to that?"

Derek nodded.

"She said, 'Good!' and then she asked where you were staying. I told her Caroline had pretty much forced you to stay with her," Sam told him grinning broadly.

"The fact that she's glad I am miserable is good?"

Sam nodded, "It's great! She is glad you are miserable _without_ her. She's mad, but she loves you, or she wouldn't have asked about you. She sure wouldn't have asked how you are doing or where you are staying."

"So she might be getting closer to maybe, possibly wanting to talk to me?"

"It's November 8th, if I was a betting woman, I would bet that by Thanksgiving, you two will not only be talking again, but will be having dinner together."

Derek leaned over and kissed the top of Danny's head, "I'm not going to get my hopes p or hold my breath, but God, I hope you're right."

"Sam, if you have to choose between your mother and me….."

"Stop. I'm not going to have to choose. You love her. She loves you. And you both love Danny and me. I used to dream about this when I was a little girl. You remember how you told me there was no one else you'd rather have as a daughter?"

Derek nodded, tearing up.

"Well, there is no one else I'd rather have as my father and Danny's grandfather. You saved him. No matter what else happens, no matter what else you've done, you saved Danny. And that is all I really need to know about Julian Jerome or Derek Wells. If not for you, I would have outlived my little boy, so, other than mom, anyone who crosses you, crosses me."

Sam and Danny stayed for a couple of hours, then left for the day, promising to come to Caroline's the next day, so Danny could spend time with the twins.

Derek worked until 10 PM, then went to Caroline's. The next morning he was at the breakfast table listening to the twins tell him something about preschool when his phone rang.

He picked up before it dawned on him that the call was coming from Alexis's phone. What he heard was the last thing he expected, "We're at GH. Danny has a 103 fever."


	35. Chapter 35

"We're at GH. Danny has a 103 fever."

The ride to the hospital with Caroline driving was the longest of his life. The same thought running through his mind and his heart - Please God, please, let him be okay. He's suffered enough, he's been sick enough in his life. He should be able to live a long, happy, healthy life.

Then they were in the elevator and he could hear Caroline's voice calmly telling him, "He'll be okay. Whatever is wrong, they'll know how to treat him. If they can't treat him, we'll find someone who can."

He felt like climbing the walls. He couldn't get to them fast enough. He was helpless. He had more money than he could ever spend and he was helpless to help his grandson.

The elevators door opened to the pediatrics floor and he saw Sam and Alexis pacing and Carlos standing in the background. Derek called out, "Sam?!"

She turned, absolute terror on her face and ran into his arms. As he pulled her into a hug, she cried, in a voice that sounded almost like a little girl's, "Daddy!" She hugged him crying, "He's so sick. He's so sick. Oh God, the leukemia can't be back. Please, I'll do anything. Why can't I be the sick one?"

"Sam, baby, tell me what happened. I know he has a fever. What other symptoms?"

Sam, sobbing told him, "He was crying and then he just stopped. It was like he felt too bad to make a sound. And he got so hot. He looked at me like he was asking, 'Why aren't you helping me? Why can't you make me feel better?' Oh God, please this can't be happening again!"

"Sam, is Silas with him?"

She nodded. "Silas is in there, but another doctor is examining him. They're saying Silas is too close to Danny because we're dating."

"Silas will make sure they take care of him. Silas loves him, almost as much as all of us do."

"What if they can't help him? What if they don't know how?"

"Sam, if the doctors at General Hospital can't help Danny, we'll find somebody who can. We can go to any hospital in the world. Let's just wait and see what they say. Honey, I know it is hard, I know you are about to crawl out of your skin waiting and that you're terrified, your mother and I are too, but we have to just wait. We need to try to stay calm because when we can see Danny, he'll sense if we are panicked and it will scare him."

Out of the corner of his eye he could see Caroline hugging Alexis and saw her talking to Carlos, though he couldn't hear what was being said.

Caroline walked over and said she and Carlos were going to go down and get coffee for everyone and they'd be right back. As soon as the elevator door closed to take them downstairs, Silas came out, but before Sam could ask him why he had left her son, Silas said, "Elizabeth is in there with him." He looked at Sam, "We're going to run some tests. We're going to figure this out. We're going to take care of him. You can't be in there when we run the tests but you can come see him for a few minutes before we start."

Sam nodded and followed Silas back to the room to see Danny, leaving Alexis and Derek with an awkward silence. Alexis broke the silence first when she said quietly, "Thank you for coming."

"Thank you for calling and letting me know."

"Sam wanted you here. She needed you here."

Derek nodded. An orderly came by pushing a cart and Derek put his hand on the small of Alexis's back to guide her out of the way.

"Don't touch me! My grandson is back there sick, getting ready to be poked and prodded. My daughter is trying to be brave for a very sick, scared little boy, and you don't need to touch me!" she snapped.

Calmly Derek told her, "Alexis, as much as I love you, as much I want you, the last thing on my mind right now is playing grab ass with you. I was trying to keep you from being run over by a careless orderly pushing a cart, I am not trying to get you in the supply closet. The only thing I am thinking about is _our_ grandson and _our_ daughter."

"Derek, I'm…."

"It doesn't matter. You're scared. We're all scared. Whatever the situation is with the two of us, we both love Sam and Danny."

The elevator door opened and Carlos and Caroline walked out carrying trays of coffee. Sam walked out looking pale and said, "They are starting to run the tests now," as she sat on the sofa in the waiting area, coffee in her hand. Derek and Alexis sat on either side of their daughter and they waited.

At some point in all of the waiting, Derek heard Caroline's phone ring. She walked away to answer it. When she hung up, she motioned to Carlos, who walked over to her. Derek watched as they spoke. He could tell from their body language it was work, not anything to do with the twins.

Carlos and Caroline walked in opposite directions, each of them dialing numbers and speaking quietly to whomever they called.

Silas came out and Sam jumped up. Derek and Alexis stood behind her, while Carlos and Caroline stood off to the side. "They're still running tests, just to make sure there's nothing else, but he tested positive for the flu. No sign of the leukemia being back. I know he had the flu vaccine, but his immunity is down. We are going to admit him. His fever is already coming down a little, but I know he really wants to see his Mommy."

As Sam followed Silas back to see Danny, Derek realized that at some point while they were listening to Silas, Alexis had grabbed his hand. Alexis seemed to realize it too and jerked her hand away.

The elevator opened and Molly, Kristina, and four of the agents, including Tim, stepped off the elevator. While Alexis explained what was going on to the girls, Derek watched as the other agents gathered around Caroline and Carlos.

Elizabeth came out and told them that they were getting Danny settled in his room and then they could see him.

Derek walked up to Caroline and asked, "What is going on? There are 6 federal agents huddled up, and as much as you all love Danny, I doubt this is about his flu."

Caroline grabbed Derek's arm and pulled him off to the side, "Phoenix found the evidence box from Cheryl's accident. They've sent it to Quantico."


	36. Chapter 36

"Phoenix found the evidence box from Cheryl's accident. They've sent it to Quantico."

With everything that had been going on, Derek had forgotten about Caroline's suspicion of an accident from 2 decades before and Ava's potential involvement.

Caroline continued talking, "She's in LA meeting with some artists, so she is nowhere near Port Charles. We still have people tailing her. She actually sat beside an agent on her flight to LA."

"Caroline, if she…"

"Derek, I've got this." She motioned to Carlos and the other agents, "We've got this. Your focus needs to be on your family, not Ava and something that may or may not have happened 20 years ago."

Derek started to respond but heard Liz's voice saying, "Alexis. Derek. Sam wants you to come to Danny's room now."

Derek and Alexis followed Elizabeth to Danny's room. Danny looked listless, so different from the boy who not even 24 hours before had been playing happily on the floor of Derek's office with some of the toys Derek kept in his office just for Danny's visits. When Danny heard his grandmother's voice, "Hey sweet pea," he tried to lift his head to look at her but quickly put it back down and whimpered.

"Hey little man," Derek said rubbing his head, "We're all here. You'll feel better soon." An IV keeping the little boy hydrated, and Derek guessed, administering medicine to him.

Sam not taking her eyes off of Danny asked, "Will you both stay here with me? Please? I need you both here." Derek pulled a chair over to where Sam was standing and guided her in it so she could sit down.

Alexis smoothed Sam's hair and said quietly, "We aren't going anywhere. Wild horses couldn't pull your father and me away from here."

They stood there not talking, watching Danny as he slept. Nurses coming in and out, Elizabeth taking his temperature every half hour, "It's down to 100," Elizabeth told them with a smile. "That's good. His temp is coming down pretty quickly. The meds are doing their job."

Alexis went out to send the girls home, telling them she would call when there was more news. The results came back and showed it was the flu, nothing else. While that was bad, especially with what Danny had been through a few months before, it could have been worse.

Knowing they wouldn't be leaving that room until they were forced, Caroline sent food in for the trio with Silas. After eating Sam nodded off and falling asleep holding Danny's hand.

"She must be exhausted," Derek said looking at Sam. "She's been through so much. Danny's been through so much, so have you. It just doesn't seem fair."

"It isn't. But Danny is on the mend. It is strange to feel relief that it is 'just the flu' but that's where I am because when Carlos was driving us in, and by the way he drove like a bat out of hell, I was sure that the leukemia was back. But I also knew if it was, we would do, you would do whatever needed to be done to save him."

Derek nodded, "I would. I would do anything for any of you. I know you are mad. You have every right to be. I should have told you months ago. I know you don't trust me, but if it takes me the rest of my life I will prove you can trust me. I love you. You, Sam, Danny, the girls, you are everything to me."

"I am mad. I am disappointed. I don't know if I can trust you, but I want to be able to trust you again. I know you love me, that you love all of us. As much as I might have wished this week that I didn't, I love you too. I want to forgive you. I just need time." Alexis walked over to where he was standing. "Derek, I've missed you. The past week has been an eternity. And then Danny woke up sick and all I wanted was for you to be there, for you to make it all better."

"Alexis, I…."

She interrupted, "We can't, we shouldn't really get into this in our grandson's hospital room. When he is better, when he's home we need to sit down and talk. Maybe with Kevin to try to see if we have something we can salvage, or if too much damage has been done."

"I'll do anything you want me to do. Anything you need me to do."

"I can't promise you anything. I'll try. I need to forgive you because no matter what happens with us, we are family because of Sam and Danny."

Derek nodded and said, "I know."

Alexis looked at him, touched his hand, and smiled, "Sam was right. You do look like hell."

Derek chuckled, "And I feel worse than I look." He looked at her and brushed her hair out of her eyes with his free hand, "You are still the most gorgeous woman I've ever seen in my life."

They sat on the tiny sofa in Danny's room side-by-side, holding hands. Around midnight, Alexis drifted off to sleep with her head on Derek's shoulder. Around 3 AM, Sam woke up and saw her mother resting her head on her father's shoulder. She made eye contact with her still wide awake father, smiled, and fell back asleep.

After sleeping through the night, at around 6 AM, Danny woke up, lifted his head, smiled at his mother and grandparents, and began babbling.


	37. Chapter 37

_Work has been crazy busy. I know how this story is going to end, but I have kind of changed my mind a couple of times about how to get there._

* * *

Danny was kept in the hospital for a week. When they were able to take him home, they tool him home that had been scrubbed from ceiling to floor and the freezer and fridge stocked with meals that only required heating.

Life was slowly getting back to normal and the time spent with Danny and Sam in the hospital had done a lot to begin to heal the rift between Alexis and Derek, but there were still times when each step forward seemed to result in 2 steps back to Derek. While spending so much time at General Hospital, Sam told them it was silly not to take advantage of being in the same building as Kevin and not to start seeing him right away, especially since Danny would be napping during the times Kevin had available.

Derek knew this was important to Alexis, even though he thought it was a bit silly to rehash what they already knew. He thought going into the sessions that nothing Kevin said would change anything that happened. He thought Kevin would ask Alexis things like, "And how did that make you feel?" and Derek already knew how it made her feel. It made her feel angry and disappointed. What would really help would be if Kevin would say, "Stop being mad at him, you love him." But it wouldn't be that simple, nothing worthwhile ever was.

A week and a half before Thanksgiving they sat in Kevin's office. Danny was at home with Sam. Derek listened as Alexis told Kevin, told them both, "When I think about all of the opportunities Derek had to tell me the truth, I get so angry all over again. But then I see him with Sam and Danny and I am so tired of being angry at him."

Kevin looked at Alexis and asked, "Do you think you using your anger at him as a way to protect yourself from the possibility that he'll hurt you if you forgive him? "

Well, this was an interesting turn, Derek thought as Alexis responded, "Kevin, I want to forgive him. We share a daughter and a grandson. We are going to be in each other's lives."

Kevin told Alexis, "That wasn't what I asked. You are angry and upset that he kept the knowledge that he is Sam's father a secret from you and Sam. You have a right to your anger, but we have to determine if you can, or if you even want to let go of your anger."

"You think I want to stay angry at him so he can't leave me for another woman?" Alexis asked Kevin.

Derek responded, "I would never leave you for another woman." He looked at Kevin, "I would never leave her for another woman." He looked back at Alexis, "There is no other woman. It has been only you since I've been back in Port Charles. If I had been able to find you, if I had known you were pregnant, there never would have been another woman since the night we met 34 years ago."

"Derek, that is ridiculous! We were teenagers. We met in a bar, we got drunk, we had sex, I got pregnant, we, we never saw each other again. It hardly would have been some great love story. I was one in a line of probably many one night stands for you."

"There was more to it than that, and you know it. And you were not one of many one night stands. You kept the matchbook I wrote my name and number on. You hid it so the Cassadines wouldn't find it. I kept yours too. You have no way of knowing what would have happened if I had known you were pregnant. A lot of your pain at the hands of the Cassadines, the pain Sam suffered because of her crappy childhood could have been prevented if I had known."

Kevin interrupted, "Derek, you feel guilty about keeping the truth from them for months, correct? But I am also hearing that you feel guilt for not being there for Alexis and for Sam years ago."

"Of course I feel guilty. I got her pregnant and she had to face that alone. She was a 16-year-old girl, and I left her alone and scared. Her father told her our baby died and gave Sam away. Sam didn't have a childhood with parents who wanted a child. The people who raised her taught her to be a con artist and a thief. I abandoned Alexis and Sam. They needed me 34 years ago, and every year since, and I wasn't there. Until a few months ago I wasn't there for them."

Alexis looked at him, "Derek, you didn't skip town when you found out I was pregnant, you didn't know. You didn't abandon us. I know if you had known you would have, you would have wanted to be there every day for the past 34 years. If I had told you, if we had tried to just run away, the Cassadines may have killed us all. None of this matters because we can't have a do over of what happened 34 years ago."

Their time with Kevin ended and they agreed to go back to Derek's office to talk some more, just the two of them.

"Derek, it is ridiculous for you to think a teenaged boy would have been any match for my family if psychopaths. I realize your family was hardly made up of do gooders, but you would have not been a match for Mikkos or his minions."

"Alexis, I killed my own sister when she threatened me. Do you have any idea what I would do to someone who threatened you or Sam or Danny?"

Alexis looked at him and nodded her head.

"Sam had to beg me not to kill Franco when she told me what he had done to her. How he had terrorized her. She had to say, 'He is not worth you going to jail and if you got caught you would go to jail. Mom, the girls, Danny and I need you.' I still have to remind myself that I promised her. And I swear to God if any of you so much get a hangnail when he is around, I will kill him."

"Derek, Julian Jerome would have killed him. Julian Jerome has been dead since 1990."

"Alexis, we are all capable of things that we have no idea we are capable of until push comes to shove and we don't think there is any other choice."


	38. Chapter 38

"I'll ask Mom," Sam told her father on the phone. "I really want to spend Thanksgiving with my entire family, including you. It is sweet of Caroline to want to include all of us, even Nikolas, Spencer, and Britt. Danny is so much better and would love to be around other children."

Derek hoped Alexis wouldn't think he was trying to railroad her into spending the holiday with him by using their daughter and grandson, but hopefully she would understand that it would be his first Thanksgiving as a father and grandfather, or rather his first Thanksgiving knowing he's a father and grandfather. For so many years he didn't seem to have much to be thankful for, but now he had Sam and Danny, and hopefully he would have Alexis by his side again, if not by this Thanksgiving, by next Thanksgiving.

"Dad, Mom was having lunch see Caroline today, right? I know she'll talk to her about it then, but I think Mom might be waiting to see if you ask her. I really think she needs to hear it from you that you want to spend Thanksgiving with her."

Derek smiled at the thought of his daughter and his sister teaming up to get Alexis to agree to spending Thanksgiving with him. He loved hearing her call him "Dad." It had become his favorite word to hear her say.

Alexis had gone to Caroline unannounced to ask if she was sure he was no longer involved in organized crime. Caroline told him that she was quite honest with Alexis that she had been quite skeptical in January 1990 when he called her. Having graduated from high school at 15 and college at 18, she had gotten her Masters and finished her training at Quantico before her 21st birthday, and she had not seen any of the Jeromes since their mother's funeral. She had been legally emancipated, and because the Jeromes and their crimes making the nightly news nationally, she had changed her name. She had taken the last name of the nanny who raised her when she was sent away from school to get her away from her two sisters after Julian had gone to Dartmouth.

The last thing she said to the only person in the family still alive that she cared about was, "I don't want to be part of a family who uses tally marks their kills to keep score on a chalkboard in the kitchen. Don't even think about contacting me unless you are ready to walk away from the Jeromes." Derek told her when they reunited years later that he was not shocked when she walked away, and was not about to argue with her since she was the best shot in the family.

"Sam, I don't want her to feel like I am pressuring her. She's getting pressure from you and, if my watch is right, at this very minute, she is getting pressure from Caroline. She said she needed time. I don't want her to feel backed into a corner."

"You aren't backing her into a corner. You are giving her an option for a home cooked Thanksgiving meal. And to have all of the people she loves most in one place. We have so much to be thankful for this year. Most of all Danny is healthy."

"You are right about that, I'm just not so sure she is going to want to be around me after she and Caroline finish their lunch. Tim went to talk to Caroline and asked to be reassigned. He wants to ask Kristina out on a real date and can't as long as he is one of the agents assigned to her."

"I know. Kristina told me. I think it's sweet! She said that Tim said he wasn't sure who'd be most likely to kill him, Mom, Caroline, or you," Sam said laughing. Then she added, "Kristina has had a rough go of it the past few years, she deserves a break and Tim is nice, besides Mom cannot possibly object to an FBI agent!"

"Sam, I think your mother could find a way to object to any man being good enough for any of her girls, and I happen to agree. I'll see what kind of mood she seems to be in after our session with Kevin today."

"Dad, Thanksgiving is just a week away. She needs to make a decision. None of us can cook a Thanksgiving meal, I'm not comfortable going into a crowded restaurant with Danny, so if she won't go to Caroline's then we need to order our meal from somewhere so we can pick it up. We can't just wait to Thanksgiving morning to decide."

"I know Sam. I'll talk to her, but you and your sister and Danny have more influence on her at this point than I do. I'll ask her. I swear she makes me feel like I'm a teenaged boy asking a girl out on a first date."

Sam laughed and they hung up after he promised he would let her know how their session with Kevin went.

A couple of hours later Alexis walked into Derek's office, "Tim asked to be reassigned away from my daughter's protection detail so he can date her." She looked at him, "And you don't look a bit surprised."

"Alexis he's 23 and a good kid. Kristina is an intelligent, beautiful young lady, just like her mother. It is only natural that he would be attracted to her. The Davis women are irresistible. He's an FBI agent. Do you have any idea how many background checks he has passed?"

"So you don't think he's too old for her?"

"Alexis, they are both adults. He is not that much older than she is. And you know if you object to her dating him, that is going to make him even more attractive to her, don't you?" Derek said chuckling.

"Why are you laughing? My daughter is going out with a man who carries a gun with him at all times."

"He's a federal agent, not some street thug. Not only is he a federal agent, he is a federal agent who is willing to take a bullet for your daughter."

"He would take a bullet for my daughter whom he wants to date."

Déjà vu, Derek thought as it struck him that they had discussed almost the very same thing before he had told her the truth. "Alexis, I know she's not my daughter, but you know I love her. If I thought her dating him would ever present a problem, I would get Caroline to get him transferred to Alaska, or any of the other field offices far away from here."

"I just don't want her to get hurt again. Not after _what's his face_ dumped her last month."

"I don't think Tim is anything like '_what's his face_.' He knows everything there is to know about Kristina. He's an FBI agent. He's seen the dossier on her, he had to read it to be part of the detail. He probably knows as much or more about her than you do."

"That doesn't make me feel better. The fact that my entire family has FBI dossiers on them, does not make me feel better."

"Alexis, if you don't have a dossier on you, you've lived a boring life," he chuckled. "You're a Cassadine. Kristina is a Cassadine and a Corinthos. She didn't have a chance in hell of not having a dossier on her."

"You're laughing. Why are you laughing? You're enjoying this aren't you?"

"No, no I'm not. I am enjoying you talking to me about the things that worry you, but I think you need to face the fact that men are going to be attracted to your daughters. They have too much of their mother in them for men to ever _not_ notice or ignore them."

"Would you still be as entertained and calm if Carlos wanted to date Sam?"

"Sam is a grown woman and a mother. And she is dating Silas. I might actually prefer Carlos given that Silas dated Ava at one point." He changed the subject, "Speaking of Sam. How would you feel about you, Sam, Danny, the girls, and Nikolas and his crew coming to Caroline's for Thanksgiving? I would love to be able to spend the day with my favorite people all in one place. You wouldn't have to try to cook, or take Danny to a germy restaurant. Trust me, between Carolina and Nana, you will think you've died and gone to Thanksgiving heaven."

"Sam has been talking about it for a few days. Caroline asked me at lunch today." She smiled at Derek, " But before I could tell her that the Davis family would love to spend Thanksgiving with the Wells family, she got called out on a case. I was hoping you would talk to me about it. If you had continued to hide behind our daughter and grandson and your baby sister, then I may have had to refuse," she added with a wink.

"I'm not hiding behind our daughter and grandson, or my sister. I was just trying to give you space and time and not try to make you feel like I was backing you into a corner."

They talked for a while longer before they had to leave for their appointment with Kevin at General Hospital.

They were in the middle of their session when a nurse came in and told Kevin a man was insisting on seeing Derek, before Derek could respond, Carlos burst into the room, "You need to come to the ER now! Ava's dead and Caroline's been shot!"


	39. Chapter 39

"You need to come to the ER now! Ava's dead and Caroline's been shot!"

Derek heard the words Carlos said, he heard the urgency in his voice, he saw the blood on his clothes, but he couldn't comprehend what Carlos was telling him. He felt Alexis grab his arm and heard her say, "Oh my God!"

Derek heard Alexis ask, "Are you hurt?" Derek looked at Carlos, he was covered in blood. He thought about the pictures of Jaqueline Kennedy in her blood soaked clothes after President Kennedy's assassination, those pictures were what Derek saw when he looked at Carlos. Carlos was covered in blood. Carlos didn't act like he was hurt, but you couldn't be ccovered in that much blood and not be hurt.

"This is her blood. This is Caroline's blood. Come on! We need to go now!"

Derek heard Alexis and Kevin asking Carlos what happened where Caroline was shot, but he knew it had to be a bad dream. He thought he'd wake up in the midle of a nightmare. He felt like everything was in slow motion.

He heard himself asking Carlos, "Was it a through and through? It was a through and through wasn't it? How pissed off is she right now? She's always said that getting shot at pisses her off. She is going to be livid at actually being shot."

"Derek, man it's bad. They're taking her into surgery. They may have her in surgery by the time we get there. Come on! We almost lost her on the way to the hospital but they got her back."

He heard Alexis say, "Derek, sweetie, let's go. She's going to be okay. She needs us. The children are going to need us." She grabbed his hand and they walked to the elevator. He heard Carlos cursing that the elevator was taking too long. Then he heard Carlos praying in Spanish.

"Padre nuestro, que estás en el cielo  
santificado sea tu nombre,  
venga a nosotros tu reino,  
hágase tu voluntad  
aquí en la tierra como en el cielo.

Danos hoy nuestro pan de cada día,  
perdona nuestras ofensas  
así como nosotros perdonamos  
a los que nos ofenden  
y no nos dejes caer en tentación;  
más líbranos del mal.

Amén."

In the elevator Derek said to no one in particular, "I don't understand. This can't be happening."

Carlos told him, "We were bringing Ava in. Caroline finally said we had enough. They found the guy Ava paid to cut Cheryl's brake line. She found the doctor Ava paid to tell Cheryl her kid was dead. We were bringing her in, Caroline was outside, and Ava started screaming at her when she saw her and we got her out of the car. There were a couple of shots. The first one hit Caroline. Then there was a shot that hit Ava in the head. She's dead."

A doctor Derek had never seen came and said he was assisting and that the bullet had missed her heart. One inch to the right and she would have died instantly. She had lost a lot of blood. Derek told them to take his, whatever they needed. The waiting room seemed to be filled with federal agents. Carlos crossed himself and he said another prayer in Spanish.

"Dios te salve, María;  
llena eres de gracia; el Señor es contigo;  
bendita tú eres entre todas las mujeres,  
y bendito es el fruto de tu vientre, Jesús.  
Santa María, Madre de Dios,  
ruega por nosotros, pecadores,  
ahora y en la hora de nuestra muerte.  
Amén."

Doctors and nurses were handing him papers to sign about treatment and asking whether she had a _DNR._

"Do not let her die. She has two children who need her. She can't….she isn't going to die. If you are here and you think she is going to die, get the hell out and stay the hell away from her!" He looked at the agents, "And if all of you are here, who in the hell is looking for the son of a bitch that shot my sister?"

"We have teams looking for the shooter."

Sabrina walked up, "Carlos, I know you say you aren't hurt, but we have to get you cleaned up and make sure. Adrenaline may be telling you that you aren't hurt, but you still could be. Please."

Another agent, Derek couldn't remember his name, ordered Carlos to go with Sabrina and get checked out or be chained to a desk for the next few months.

Derek thought to ask, "Has anybody gotten in touch with Lorenzo? He's her children's father. He needs to be here."

The agent walked up to Derek and said, "DC is working on it. He's deep undercover and when agents have those assignments it can be impossible to get in touch with them. It could very well break his cover and endanger his life and other agents undercover if he suddenly leaves."

"And by, 'DC is working on it,' do you mean they are sitting on their asses, not willing to blow whatever case he's working on? Or do you mean they are trying to get him here? He loves my sister. She loves him. He loves their kids. He's is going to blow a gasket when he finds out this happened and you didn't tell him."

"They're working on it. That is all I can tell you. I am sorry. I have to go out and help our agents find who did this. The agents who were there still need to be debriefed, but we'll make sure one of us is here with you at all times."

"Just find Lorenzo for her and find whoever did this."

He felt Alexis holding his hand and leading him to the sofa. "Derek, you need to sit down. The surgery will take a while. I'm going to call Sam and let her know what is going on and where we are. I am going to call to make sure Nana knows and gets the children from preschool. I'll tell Nana to do what you think Caroline would want. But I don't think she would think that the children need to be here. I think they should just stay at home until we know more. They can come when they are able to see their mother."

"I want to be there when the children find out their mother is in the hospital. They'll need someone besides Nana there. They need their father, but God only knows when he'll find out. He is liable to burn somebody's house down if he finds out the bureau kept this from him."

"Derek, I am sure she is going to be fine."

"When she was pregnant with them she and Lorenzo asked me if I would be Frances and Joseph's legal guardian if something happened to them. She said in their line of work they had to have their ducks in a row. I never thought…even with her job I never thought this might happen. Even with all of his undercover work he's never been hurt like this. Did you see how much blood Carlos had on him? Was that all from her? Did she have any blood left? All because someone wanted Ava dead. Why the hell did I push her to find out if Ava caused Cheryl's wreck? What did that matter 20 years later? Lucas was raised by people who loved him and took care of him? Why did I have to push it? If I hadn't pushed it, she wouldn't have been anywhere near Ava when whoever shot her."

"Derek, you do not get to blame yourself for this. You did not pull that trigger! Caroline is a federal agent. Her job is investigating crimes and to arrest people who commit them. It could have been Tim, or Carlos, or any of the other agents. And she would be out here beating herself up that it wasn't her. You two are so much alike."

Carlos walked out wearing scrubs, his clothes covered in Caroline's blood taken for evidence.

Alexis asked him, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. There isn't one damn scratch on me. She's in there on an operating table fighting for her life and I don't have one damn scratch on me."

Alexis said, "You helped her. You didn't leave her until they made you. The paramedics had to force you to take your hands off her wound. And then you came and got us. You knew exactly what to do for her. They are going to want to debrief you soon."

Sam and Kristina joined Derek, Alexis, and Carlos at the hospital with clothes for Carlos another agent sent. When Derek asked about Danny, Sam told him she had taken Danny to Caroline's to play with Joseph and Frances. Molly and Nana were watching all 3 children. Frances and Joseph had no idea anything was wrong. It was up to Derek to decide when and how to tell them their mother had been shot.

Derek hugged his daughter and Kristina. Kristina walked over to her mother, "Mom, have you heard anything about Tim?"

"Sweetie, he's working. He's looking for the shooter."

"He'll find whoever did this. Don't tell her, but Tim said she's kinda like a mom to him or maybe a favorite aunt. And please don't be mad at her, but she's the one that told him if he asked to be reassigned he could ask me out. She said she had been watching us and knew we liked each other. He pretty much thinks she is the end all be all of federal agents."

Alexis smiled at her middle daughter, "Tim seems to be a brilliant guy. Why would I be mad that she made sure a guy like that could ask you out?"

When the surgery was over, after she spent time in recovery, she was taken to ICU. Derek was the only one allowed back to see her and only allowed to stay with her for a short amount of time. "She's unconscious. She's pale. She's got tubes and wires everywhere," he reported. "I want to be at her house when the twins wake up. I want to tell them she got hurt. They'll know something is wrong if she isn't there."

He noticed Carlos on his phone. He heard Carlos say, "Okay. Got it. No, I'll tell them."

He hung up the phone and pulled Derek and Alexis aside, "They got the shooter.

It was Sonny. He admitted it. He escaped from the institution and blamed Ava for Morgan killing Connie. He fired at the agents who were attempting to take him into custody. He's dead."


	40. Chapter 40

"They got the shooter. It was Sonny. He admitted it. He escaped from the institution and blamed Ava for Morgan killing Connie. He fired at the agents who were attempting to take him into custody. He's dead."

Derek heard Alexis gasp, "Oh my God!"

Carlos sighed, "There's more. When Sonny fired at the agents he hit Tim in the left shoulder, Tim fired back. So did other agents. Sonny went down. Tim may have taken the shot that took him down."

Alexis closed her eyes, "Oh God. What are we going to tell Kristina?"

Derek looked at Carlos, "Tim _may have_ been the one that killed him? Or Tim _was_ the one that killed him?"

Carlos shrugged, "Does it matter? They have do ballistics. Whoever killed him had no choice. I have to go. Tim is being brought in to the ER. His GSW was a through and through. He'll be fine." He started to walk off, but stopped turned around and walked back to Alexis and Derek.

In a quiet but urgent voice he said, "Listen, Ms. Davis, I don't know what you should tell Kristina, but the agents that fired at Sonny didn't have a choice. Unlike Sonny Corinthos, FBI agents don't go around killing people for the hell of it. I'm sorry her father is dead, but I am not sorry that the bastard who almost killed Caroline and shot Tim is dead. I've had to inform the family of dead criminals before, I can do it if you want."

Alexis said, "I didn't mean that the way it sounded. I know the shooting was justified. I'll tell her. I'd prefer to tell her. I need to prepare her that Tim was there, was hurt, and may have been the one who killed her father." Carlos nodded at her, then he looked at Derek, "Call me when she wakes up. You know as well as I do that she'll ask about her children first and then her agents." Derek and Alexis watched as he got on the elevator.

"Derek, I didn't mean… Carlos is very direct, isn't he?"

"I know. He is. You just have to understand, when he gets focused on something, he has tunnel vision. Caroline is the same way. I think they all are. They are tight. She mothers her agents. It is going to piss her off that her 'little Timmy' got shot and it is going to break her heart if he had to shoot and kill someone, especially Kristina's father."

"I have to tell Kristina her father is dead and that he shot Tim."

"Maybe you should see if Kevin is available to be here for her when you tell her."

They saw Sam and Kristina watching them. Derek figured the sisters were debating on whether or not they should interrupt to find out what was going on."

Kristina walked over, "Mom, Derek, what is going on? Carlos seemed to be in a hurry to get out of here. Did someone else get hurt? Is it Tim? Did Tim get hurt?" Sam followed her younger sister over to her parents.

"Kristina, baby, come over here and sit down," Alexis said gently.

"Oh God! The person who shot Caroline shot Tim, didn't he? Is he dead?"

"Honey, Tim is fine. They're bringing him in. He got hit in the shoulder. It was a through and through.'

"I'm going to head down to the ER. Sam, I'm heading to the ER," and started to walk to the elevator.

Sam started to follow her, "Kristina, I'll come with you!"

"Kristina, sit back down. I need to tell you something else." Kristina turned around and grabbed Sam's hand.

"Kristina, Sonny was the shooter. He escaped from the mental institution. He blamed Ava for Morgan killing Connie."

"Wait. What? Are you saying Dad almost killed Caroline and shot Tim? Did they arrest him?"

"Tim was trying to arrest him when your father fired his gun and hit Tim in the left shoulder. The agents had no choice but to return fire. Honey, your father was killed."

"Dad tried to kill Caroline and Tim?"

"Honey, other than Ava, I doubt very seriously if your father even realized who else he had shot. He was a very sick man."

"Oh my God! Caroline and Tim are going to hate me! Oh my God Derek, you must hate me! My father almost killed your sister. I am so sorry!"

Derek hugged her, "Kristina, I do not hate you. I could never hate you. Caroline and Tim won't hate you. Caroline and I both know better than most that you are not responsible for what your father did."

Alexis looked at Kristina, "Kristina, honey did you hear what I said? Your father is dead."

"I can't think about dad right now. Sam, please go see Tim. I need to make sure he doesn't hate me because of dad. How am I ever going to face Caroline and her kids again? I need to call Michael."

"Kristina, you need to focus on…."

"Mom, I can't! Not right now. I cannot think about Dad and what he did. I can't. If I think about it now, I'll lose it and end up just like him. I can't!" and she burst into tears.

Sam hugged her sister, "Kristina, let's go downstairs and check on Tim." Kristina started to argue. "Just go downstairs with me. You can just be there and I'll go check on him. Okay? If you don't want him to know, he won't even know you're there. I promise that

if you don't want him to know you're there I won't tell him."

Kristina nodded. "I need to call Michael. I'll call Michael after. I have to make sure Tim is okay. If he killed Tim….if Tim is hurt bad like Caroline…"

Sam looked at her sister, "Honey, Tim is fine. They said it was a through and through. That means it went right through. They'll patch him up and he'll be fine. We'll go check."

Kristina looked at her mother and shook her head.

Sam hugged her parents and said, "I'll take care of her. I'm going to take her and make her see with her own eyes that Tim is fine. They've gotten close. She needs to know he's okay."

Sam got Kristina in the elevator. Alexis looked at Derek, "It is 3 AM. They are not going to let you in to see Caroline again until 9 AM. You need to go get some rest before the twins wake p and you have to tell them something about why their mother isn't home."

"What do I tell them? Their father is God only knows where, their mother almost died. They are 4-years-old. What the hell am I supposed to tell them?"

"You tell them that their mother got hurt, but the doctors are taking care of her. You tell them people are trying to find their father to let him know and until he gets here to take care of them, we will take care of them. You tell them that we love them and no matter what else happens, we will take care of them until their parents can."

They took the elevator down to check on Tim and the girls. They got off the elevator and saw Sam motioning to Kristina to follow her. They followed too. And they watched as Kristina went into the room where Tim had been examined, his left arm was in a sling. As soon as he saw Kristina he said, "Kristina, I'm sorry. I tried to get him to put the gun down, but he…."

"Stop! Please just stop! You're hurt. He's hurt so many people. He shot you," she said crying. "You must hate me. Your parents are never going to like me now."

He took his arm out of the sling and said, "Kristina, come here." She looked at him, tears in her eyes. "Please come here," he asked again.

She walked close to him and he used his good hand to brush the hair out of her eyes and then pulled her into a hug. "I'm okay. I wish I…I'm sorry I couldn't get him to put the gun down."

Derek, Alexis, and Sam watched as Kristina dissolved into wracking sobs in Tim's embrace, Tim whispering words of comfort in her ear and rubbing her back.


	41. Chapter 41

Watching Kristina with Tim the thought crossed Derek's mind that they seemed like a real couple, not two people who had yet to be alone with each other, but a couple who knew each other intimately. Maybe that was from spending so much time together with him protecting her. Caroline had told him once that when you are protecting someone you know them as well or better than their spouse does. Maybe that was it, but whatever it was, Tim seemed to reach Kristina in a way her mother and sister hadn't been able to reach her. She had been in denial until she saw him. He told her he had tried to get Sonny to put down the weapon. The way he talked to her, the way he held her and whispered to her, the way he told her about Sonny, had been able to bring Kristina out of denial in a very gentle way. Tim's treatment of Kristina was very much the treatment of a man who thought she was the most precious thing in the world.

Derek thought, they don't act like a couple of kids who just like each other, maybe it is because they are young and everything surrounding them meeting and being around each other had been so intense and dramatic, but they seem to be so in sync. They interacted intimately, like there was no one else who knew one as well as the other one did.

He almost felt like he was a peeping Tom watching them. Sam motioned to her parents and they left the two alone.

Sam said quietly, "I think we need to leave her with Tim. You know she will not want to leave him, not now."

Alexis looked at her oldest daughter, "I feel like I am missing some vital information about their relationship."

"You aren't. Not really. You know Kristina falls hard and falls fast. I think most 20-year-olds do that. But when you know someone is right for you, you know. Whether it takes 30 dates or 30 minutes is another story. We've known they were attracted to each other and they have spent more time together in the past month than they've spent apart. You know Kristina. She was on a tear about something, getting dumped because of Sonny and Morgan I think, before she ever got to you two in New York. She was throwing things across her dorm room. Tim told her to calm the hell down, that any guy that would dump her because of her father or her brother didn't deserve her. He told her from what he could tell she was intelligent, funny, sweet, and beautiful and any guy that let 'his mommy and daddy' tell him he shouldn't date her was a little boy, not a man."

Alexis raised her eyebrows. Sam shrugged, "I'm pretty sure that was all it took. She was mad at him for a couple hours then she started looking at him with gooey eyes."

"And you've known this since when?" Alexis asked her oldest daughter.

"Since you got back from New York. By the time you got back to Port Charles, she had it bad. I knew as soon as I saw her look at him." Sam giggled softly, "And good Lord, when she said his name, I half expected birds and mice to start dressing her in a ballgown. I asked her if something was going on between them, I was ready to kick his ass if he had taken advantage of her when she was vulnerable. And she told me that she really liked him but didn't know if saw her as anything more than a part of his job. I started watching him and how he looked at her, and I knew that she wasn't just part of the job to him."

Derek looked at Alexis, "How did we miss this?"

"You two were too busy being all in love yourselves. He was just really there for her with everything, beyond what was part of his job. He tried to just be her friend, to be there on the security detail I mean. He was the closest in age to her. He's good looking. She's beautiful. One night, after the truth about Dad came out, they were talking out on the deck and she kissed him. She said she knew he would never kiss her as long as he was only around her because of work. He went and told Caroline and she told him if he liked Kristina he needed to ask to be reassigned, that if he was reassigned he could ask Kristina out on a proper date. You two were dealing with enough and then Danny got sick. Kristina was scared for you two to find out, that you would think he had taken advantage of the situation. Caroline told them she would handle it, telling you two I mean."

"So he's the reason she wants to transfer to PCU?" Alexis asked.

"He's a reason, one of the reasons. I'm just glad she's fallen for a good guy this time. He doesn't have ulterior motives. He sure as hell would never beat her, or leave her because of something someone in her family does. I think this is the first time that she has fallen for a guy who didn't want to get to you or Sonny. He respects her. It took me years to find someone who adored me the way he adores her. Next time you are around them, pay attention. He looks at her like...

"He looks at her like she is the most precious thing in the world," Derek finished the thought and Sam nodded.

Kristina walked out, eyes red from crying. "Sam, will you go back there with Tim while I talk to Mom and Derek?" Sam nodded and walked back to the room where Tim was.

Alexis pulled Kristina in a hug and attempted to begin to comfort her abut Sonny. Kristina pulled back from the hug and looked at Alexis, "Mom, I'm going to stay here with Tim. I want to make sure he gets settled in and follows doctor's orders."

"Kristina, we need to make sure Michael and Dante know about your father."

"I just talked to both of them. They were already notified. We're supposed to meet around 1 to start planning his funeral."

"Kristina, I think you need to try to get some rest. You have a long few days ahead of you."

"Mom, I am not going to be able to rest if I am worried about whether or not Tim is okay in addition to thinking about Dad. I'm just not. His family is flying in tomorrow, but until they get here, I'm not leaving him. Dad shot him. None of this should have happened. Tim shouldn't be in there with a hole in his shoulder…. and my father shouldn't be dead."

"Kristina, you are not to blame for what your father did. You know that, right?"

"That's what Tim said, but if it wasn't for me he wouldn't have…. he wouldn't have given Dad a chance to shoot him. I know he gave Dad more chances than he would have given anyone else in the same situation, and did so because of me. I know he didn't want to shoot my father. He got shot because he didn't want to shoot _my_ father."

"Kristina, honey, your father is gone. You are so focused on Tim that you aren't letting yourself grieve…"

"Mom, I know. I can't think about it right now. I just can't think about him. In a few hours I have to meet two of my brothers to help plan our father's funeral and I'll have no choice but to think about it then, but I just want to not think about it right now. Please just go home. Derek has to be back in a few hours. He needs to get to Caroline's so he can be there when her children wake up. Right now, I am not going anywhere except back in there with Tim. I'll talk to you in a few hours."

"Kristina, sweetie I think…"

"I know what you think. You think I'm in denial. I'm not, not really. I'm sad. My father is dead. It's sad, but honestly it is also a relief. I no longer have to wonder when he is going to die, or how, or who is going to kill him. I don't have to wonder every time the phone rings whether it is someone calling to tell me he's been killed or arrested for killing someone. I don't have to worry about my brothers or me getting caught in the crossfire of some stupid mob war. If and when I have kids, I won't have to worry about my children getting killed because of their grandfather."

"Kristina, I think we need to make you an appointment with Kevin or someone to talk about all of this."

"Mom, that's fine. If that's what you need me to do, I'll do it. But is there really anything to say? I am going to have to pretend to be devastated for my brothers and the spectators at the funeral, and there will be spectators because we are a freak show of a family. I'm not devastated. I'm sad, but not devastated. And I feel guilty. I feel guilty because I am relieved he's dead. And I feel guilty because he shot Caroline and Tim before he died. Does he even deserve to have anybody to be sad because he died? How much pain has he caused how many people in his life as a _coffee importer_? Somehow I don't think the people who own _8 O'clock Coffee_ have shipments blown up on a regular basis."

"Kristina, stop it!"

"No, Mom. You wanted to talk, so we're talking. If Dad hadn't been a mob boss, Jason would still be alive. No one would have ever wanted to kill Jason if not for the work he did for Dad. Sam would have her husband and Danny would have his father. There was a reason you didn't want him to know he was my father until you had no choice, so let's be honest and quit acting like Dad was some innocent choir boy just because he's dead!"

Derek and Alexis watched as Kristina walked away.

"Alexis, please remember she has only known her father is dead for an hour or so. Give her time. It is going to hit her and hit her hard. The last thing she will need when she finally does deal with it is to think we are judging her for the things she says now."

"She said she was relieved her father is dead!"

"Alexis, aren't you relieved your father is dead? Because Caroline and I are pretty relieved our father is dead."

"Derek, it's different."

"How is it different? Kristina feels what she feels. The last thing she needs is to feel like we're judging her. Give her time. Think about the stages of grief. There is no timeline for grieving. She is angry. She has the right to be."

Sam walked out and sighed. "I think we need to leave. She isn't going anywhere. I think she may actually get some rest here. I told her I would bring her some clothes in the morning when we come back to check on Caroline." Sam began walking and added, "We need to leave. I left her my keys and told her I was leaving my car here. We'll be back here in a few hours. An agent got Molly and Danny home a few hours ago. I want to check on him and try to get a couple of hours of sleep. Derek needs to try to sleep so he can tell Joseph and Frances about their mother and focus on whatever the doctors say. We all have a rough few days ahead of us, and I miss my little boy."

Alexis started to argue, but Sam stopped her, "Mom, you know how stubborn she is. What are you going to do? Go in there and force her to go home? That will just make her dig her heels in more. She needs us to let her do what she needs to do to get through this. She isn't going out and getting drunk. She's taking care of and being taken care of by the guy she is in love with and who is in love with her."

"Sam, I doubt we can label them as being _in love_. They haven't known each other very long," Alexis argued as she and Derek walked with Sam to the parking lot.

"How long does it take? What are the rules? 10 dinners, 7 movies, a concert, 3 sporting events, and then you can say you're in love? It's been long enough that they believe they are, and I believe they are. She was all Tim was thinking about when I was back there."

They got in the car to head home.

"What did he say? Tim. What did Tim say about Kristina when you were back there with him?" Alexis asked.

"He just wanted to make sure I thought she was okay. Well, as okay as she could be given the circumstances."

"Sam, while you were back there she told Derek and me she is relived Sonny is dead."

"She told Tim that too. He also said she didn't even want to meet with Dante and Michael to help plan the funeral but he told her he thought she need to help plan it. That he didn't want her to regret not helping after it was over. He told her he would have to go to counseling because of everything that happened and told her maybe since she might want to talk to Kevin about this…just to sort out her feelings about all of this, everything that has happened."

"I told her I wanted her to talk to Kevin and she said she would do it if I wanted her to go."

I think suggestions from Tim might be accepted more easily than suggestions from us."

Alexis and Sam dropped Derek off with the promise they would be there no later than 8 to head back to General Hospital.

Derek slept about an hour before his niece and nephew woke him up by demanding, "Uncle Derek, where's Mommy?"


	42. Chapter 42

"Uncle Derek, where's Mommy?"

Derek looked at the clock. 5 AM. He was not expecting to have to have this conversation for a couple of more hours, he was not expecting to have to have it alone, and he was not expecting to have to have it before he had coffee. But the twins obviously had other plans. Alexis was hopefully asleep at her house and Nana was surely still asleep in her room. Since the older woman was going to have the twins and Danny for much of the day, she needed all of the rest she could get. As far as coffee, well that would have to wait. He motioned for the twins to get on the bed with him. With one snuggled up next to him on the right and one snuggled up next to him on the left, Derek sighed deeply and began to tell them where their mother was at the moment.

"Well guys, your mommy got hurt yesterday, so the doctors made her stay at the hospital so they can take care of her there."

"Did she fall down and have to have stitches like me?" Joseph asked. Joseph was the physical one, the one who would leap first, look and ask questions later. Frances, the more cerebral, sensitive of the two, thought everything through, inquisitive by nature asked questions and didn't miss a thing.

Frances looked skeptical, so much like her mother, Derek thought before she asked him, or told her brother, Derek wasn't sure, "She didn't fall. A bad man hurt her?"

"Yeah sweetie, a bad man hurt her, but the doctors are making her all better."

Frances wanted to know the who, what, where, when, and how of her mother's injury and recovery. Then she started crying, "Is my Mommy going to die?"

"Sweet girl, the doctors are doing everything they can to make sure she comes home to you two as soon as she is better," Derek told her as he smoothed her hair and then rubbed her back.

Frances demanded, "I wanna go see her now! I want my Mommy!"

"Baby, I'm sorry but we can't go now. The doctors say she needs a lot of sleep. She's really tired and sleeping will help her get better faster. They won't let a lot of people go see her. Just me right now. The doctors have rules and right now the rules are you two are too little to go see Mommy. As soon as you can go see her, I'll take you. Even if I have to take you out of school."

Frances dissolved into even more tears. Joseph looked at his sister then at his uncle, "Did they find the bad guy that hurt my Mommy? Are you and my Daddy gonna beat him up?"

Derek almost started laughing. Joseph was definitely his father's son. "Nobody is going to beat anybody up. You know your Mommy doesn't like that kind of talk. They found the bad guy. He isn't ever going to hurt anybody ever again."

Frances looked up, "Is Daddy gonna come help her?"

"Sweetie, I'm not sure if your Daddy knows Mommy got hurt yet. You know how sometimes you don't see him for a long time because he's working? He's working and they are trying to find him so they can tell him."

Joseph told them matter-of-factly, "He's gonna be maaaaaad."

That might be the understatement of the year, Derek thought. There was not an adequate enough descriptor for what he knew Lorenzo's reaction would be when he found out. Wherever he was, or whatever he was working on, Derek almost felt bad for anybody that dared tried to get in his way, to keep him from Caroline's side. Almost. For the director's sake, Derek hope they had sense enough to send smoke signals if they had to do so to let Lorenzo know.

Lorenzo loved his sister. He hadn't always been Lorenzo's biggest fan, especially after he left Caroline and the children when the twins were only a couple of months old for work. Derek hadn't known at the time but the bureau needed him to infiltrate a terrorist organization. That led Caroline to marry a man she didn't love. Frances had been hospitalized with pneumonia and Caroline waited for Lorenzo to show up to be there for her, and when he didn't, Caroline said yes to Grant's proposal, because as she told Derek sadly, "At least he'll be there."

When Lorenzo came home three years later and after stopping a terrorist attack before it could happen, his children were no longer newborns and the woman he loved, the woman who loved him, was another man's wife. He had never been told his daughter had been hospitalized. The powers that be did not want to risk Lorenzo's cover being blown so they never told him.

Caroline told Derek later, "It would have been easier and cheaper to take a wrecking ball to the place. The damage to the office he tore apart in is the tens of thousands of dollars. A computer was thrown through an office window. He told them if they ever kept information about his family from him again, he would burn their damn houses down. I'm fairly certain he will know about every hangnail from here on out."

Derek knew as soon as Lorenzo showed back up, his sister's marriage wouldn't last much longer. She would never break her marriage vows and cheat on her husband. A least not physically, but she had never been in love with Grant, so even a last ditch effort to save the marriage by moving to Charlotte hadn't helped. Grant falling in love with his receptionist and having an affair had been a relief to Caroline. She could walk away from the marriage without much guilt. Except the guilt of knowing she should have never married a man she wasn't in love with in the first place, that she should have never married anyone she didn't love like she loved Lorenzo, that she should have known Lorenzo hadn't been told their baby girl was sick. Caroline had Derek, "I know him better than that. He would have moved heaven and earth for us, and I gave up on him."

Derek stopped his trip down memory lane and said a silent prayer that he didn't just lie to his sister's children, that Caroline would wake up soon and he would be able to take them to see their mother. And he prayed that they would be able to find Lorenzo and get him to Port Charles soon.

"We need to get you two some breakfast," Derek told the two children.

He and the children walked into the kitchen only to find Nana already awake, dressed, and preparing breakfast. He filled the older woman in on Caroline's prognosis, as well as Tim's while the children drew pictures for their uncle to take to their mother, ate with the children, fixed another cup of coffee, then went to take a shower while the children got dressed.

He got out of the shower and called the hospital. Nothing had changed since they had left. Caroline was still unconscious, critical, but stable, and holding her own. He knew when he got there he would have to focus on talking to her about the children. He needed to remind her that they needed her. Alexis called to check on things and to tell him that she, Sam, and Danny were on their way shortly. Sam and she wanted him to be able to spend some time with his grandson before they all headed to the hospital.

While Danny was glad to see his grandfather, he was even happier to see Frances and Joseph. When Derek, Alexis, and Sam got ready to leave Derek hugged Frances and Joseph and made promises he would tell their Mommy they loved her and would call them and let them know how she was feeling, and they promised him they would help Nana with Danny.

They got to the hospital around 8:30 and headed to Tim's room. They walked in and saw Kristina curled up beside Tim on the hospital bed, her legs draped across his, her head on his chest, her hand in his left hand, both of them asleep. Alexis smiled at the sight, walked over, and kissed Kristina's forehead. Kristina's eyes opened, "Mom? What are you doing here?" she whispered.

"We came to check on Tim and bring you a change of clothes. Derek wanted to check in before he goes up to see Caroline."

"He's okay, I think. They gave him something for the pain and to knock him out. One of the stations reported Caroline died and he flipped out. They thought he was going to reopen the wound. I told him the report was wrong, she was critical but stable. He was still kind of wired until the meds kicked in and knocked him out."

Kristina looked at Derek, "She is okay, isn't she?"

Derek smiled, "Nothing has changed as far as I know. Speaking of my sister, I need to get up there and check on her. I have lots of messages to give her from her children." He walked over kissed Kristina on the forehead, and added, "I'm glad Tim is okay. I hope he knows how lucky he is to have one of the Davis women care so much about him."

Alexis grabbed his hand and said, "I'll be up there soon. I just want to make sure Kristina can get ready without worrying about Tim waking up and not seeing her or a familiar face."

Derek smiled at her, and looked at Sam who shrugged and said, "I'm going to stay here with Mom and Kristina for a while. I'll be up later too."

Derek chuckled, Sam playing peace maker and wanting to make sure Alexis didn't smother Kristina with too much attention. How had he managed to live so long without this family in his life? He had no clue how empty his life had been until he came to Port Charles and met them.

He got to ICU and got an update then went in to see Caroline. Remembering what the experts said about people who were unconscious, to talk to them like you would normally in case they could hear you.

"Hey Caroline, I am under strict orders from your children to tell you wake up and come home. They drew you some pictures and made you some cards. I got a special request from them that I come home early to tuck them in tonight since you won't be there to do it."

He took out the cards and pictures, telling her about them and reading what the twins had written.

"Danny is at the house spending the day with them and Nana. Poor woman will probably be exhausted from running after the three of them all day, but I think Molly will go by later to help out. Oh and thanks for keeping me in the dark about the great love affair between Kristina and Tim. I think they are now officially inseparable and it has been brought to my attention that you didn't exactly tell me everything when you told me that you_ thought_ that they liked each other."

He sat with her talking until the doctors and nurses came in to examine her and made him leave. He walked out and found Sam and Alexis waiting. "They kicked me out for a couple of hours – examinations, tests, whatever. How's Tim? How were things with Kristina?"

"Remarkably, things with Kristina went really well. Mom didn't try to control her decisions," Sam told him.

"Hey! I am standing right here! I thought about what you two said last night, or this morning and realized you were both right. Kristina has to get through this in her own way. And when I walked in and saw her all curled up next to him, I realized that he is her safe place. He makes her feel safe in a way no one else ever has, including me."

"We're making progress!" Sam joked.

Alexis looked at Sam and ignored her comment, "Derek, lets go get something to eat. You can go to your office and get out of this hospital. Sam and I can go check on the kids. They'll call if there is any change."

"I'll agree to lunch with you two. Then we'll see. I probably need to run to the office, but I don't want to be gone from here long. I promised Frances and Joseph that I would be home to tuck them in."

After lunch, Derek went to his office. He went back to the hospital but was home by 6 to eat dinner with his niece and nephew. After their baths he read to them, and made a phone call to a paper on the west coast while they went to tell Nana good-night. He went to tuck them in and they weren't in their rooms. He saw the light on in Caroline's room and walked down the hall. The twins were in her bed, her fluffy robe lying between them on the bed. Both were holding a sleeve in their hands next to their little faces.

"You two want to sleep in your Mommy's bed, huh?"

They nodded sleepily. And he walked over and kissed them. "We'll leave the light in the hall on, just for tonight. Nana and I will be here if you need us."

It didn't take them long to fall asleep. He walked in and told Nana the kids were asleep in their mother's room so not to panic when she went to check on them and they weren't in their rooms.

"I'm going to run back to the hospital to check on Caroline. I won't be gone long. They won't let me stay in her room too late."

Derek got to the hospital and waved to the nurses. He got an update on Caroline she was still unconscious but had been upgraded to serious condition. It was just a matter of time before she woke up. They told him he could go in a for a little while even though visting hours were over.

As he walked in her room he thought, I am sure my hefty donation to the hospital helped extend visiting hours for me. He closed the door behind him and suddenly he felt the unmistakable steel barrel of a Glock 22 against the back of his head, and heard, "Why the hell are you in here? Visiting hours are over."


	43. Chapter 43

Derek closed the door behind him and suddenly he felt the unmistakable steel barrel of a Glock 22 against the back of his head, and heard, "Why the hell are you in here? Visiting hours are over."

"Lorenzo, it's me. For God's sake, put the damn gun away!" He felt the gun being moved away from his head and he turned around. "Well I see they found you."

Lorenzo didn't respond, just put the gun back in his holster and walked over to Caroline's bed. "She always looks like a little girl when she is sick or hurt." He sat down beside the bed, picked up Caroline's hand and kissed it

"Yeah, she does," Derek agreed.

"I should never have left her and the kids when I did. I should have never left them at all."

"Where were you?"

"Does it matter? Once again, I wasn't here when she needed me."

"You know what she would say to you if she could talk right now?"

In unison both men said, "Lorenzo, you weren't out playing golf, you were catching terrorists."

Lorenzo chuckled sadly, "She's given me so many passes for being a deadbeat." He leaned down and kissed her forehead.

Derek watched the man brush the hair out of his sister's face with one hand, the other hand still holding her hand. "Lorenzo, how the hell did you get in here? There are guards everywhere. I know no one on staff knows you are here because no one told me you were in here or I would have sounded a warning to let you know I was coming in."

Without looking away from Caroline, Lorenzo answered with a shrug, "They need to get better guards. I got in here the same way I get in anywhere I need and want to get in. I figured you were gone for the night. How are the kids?"

"They're scared. Right now they are curled up in their mother's bed sound asleep clutching her robe. They miss you. They told me you would come and take care of her."

"Miss them. I miss her."

"When I go back to the house, you should go with me. They'll be so excited to wake up and see you."

"I don't want to leave her alone."

"I understand, but she would rather you go see the kids than to just sit beside her while she's asleep. Besides when the doctors and nurses come in here and see you, you're going to scare the shit out of them. Especially if you pull a gun on them and with you looking so…."

"Scuzzy. That's what Caroline says when I look like this. Sorry about the gun earlier. She would kick my ass if I shot you."

Derek chuckled at the knowledge that his sister who stood 5'2 and weighed 110 pounds soaking wet, was the only thing that scared the man – a former Navy SEAL Team Six member and current FBI agent, who spent more time deep undercover than he spent as himself - sitting beside her bed.

"They'll walk in here, take one look at you, and assume you are here to try to kill her. They are liable to call reinforcements to take you out."

Lorenzo looked at him and shrugged, "Let 'em try. Longest flight of my life getting here." He turned back to look at Caroline, "Even after getting shot and having surgery, she's still the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. She's like my own Sleeping Beauty lying here."

"She's fighting hard to come back to you and the kids. To all of us."

Lorenzo nodded. "So fill me in – how the hell did she end up in Port Charles? Lying in this hospital? I know Ava got her shot. Tell me everything. I mean the real version not the DC version I got when they told me."

Felix walked in, took one look at Lorenzo and gasped before he managed to get out a strangled, "Excuse me sir, only immediately family and medical staff can be in here and visiting hours are over."

Derek said, "He's fine. He's her…"

Lorenzo interrupted but never turned to look at the nurse or Derek, "Husband. I'm her husband."

Felix looked skeptical but Derek didn't correct it, just nodded. "Felix, we're heading home soon. He's been out of the country and just got here. Just a little while longer, please."

Felix nodded and walked over to check vitals the different equipment attached to her, made notes, and left.

"Husband?" Derek asked when Felix was gone. "You don't believe in marriage."

"I do now. As soon as she can, I am going to marry her. If she'll have me. I already have a ring to give her," he leaned over and kissed her forehead.

Derek wasn't sure she would accept his proposal knowing how he felt about marriage. He had proposed when she told him she was pregnant but she had refused because she knew he didn't believe in marriage and didn't want him to marry her just because she was pregnant, "It isn't 1959. A man doesn't have to marry a woman just because he got her pregnant."

"Lorenzo, come back to the house with me. You can get cleaned up and be there when the kids wake up. I think once they see you they will feel a lot better. You know as well as I do when she wakes up if she finds out you spent all of your time here and haven't seen the kids, she will kick your ass. And she sure won't marry you."

"She is the best mother. I hope our kids know while they got short-changed in the father department, they more then made up for it by having her as a mother."

"The kids think you are pretty awesome. Frances told me a couple of times today that she wanted her Daddy." He saw Lorenzo visibly flinch but knew laying on the guilt about the kids would get him to agree to come back to the house. "And Joseph has it in his head that you are Superman and are going to beat up anybody that hurt his mother."

"I told DC I was done with deep undercover work. I told them it was somebody else's turn to abandon their family for national security. If I have to leave the bureau, I'll leave."

"She thinks you'd die of boredom in a month if you weren't deep undercover."

"I think she and the twins will provide enough excitement. I'm getting too old to chase terrorists."

"Come on. Let's let her get her rest. We'll be back first thing in the morning. I'll tell you everything. And you can see your children. You know that is exactly what she would tell you to do."

Lorenzo nodded, leaned over, kissed Caroline, and whispered to her that he loved her and would be back soon, that he was going to see their children.

When they got to the house, Derek showed him to Caroline's room where the twins were still asleep, Lorenzo's eyes filled with tears as he walked over and kissed his children. Nana said she would heat up some food for him while he got cleaned up. He took a shower, cut his hair, and trimmed his beard. As he ate the food Nana had heated up for him he listened as Derek filled him in on everything.

After hearing all that had happened in the past few months, Lorenzo shook his head and said, "She thinks I could be bored with all of this going on?"

The men turned in knowing they had a long day ahead of them.

Around 6 AM Derek was in the kitchen when he heard the unmistakable squeals of his niece and nephew discovering their father on their mother's bed in between them, "Daddy! You're really here!" Derek knew they were tackling the man and smiled at the image in his head.


	44. Chapter 44

A few minutes later Lorenzo walked into the kitchen, Joseph on his back, Frances in his arms. "Look Uncle Derek! Daddy's here!" the twins announced. Frances added, "I thought it was a dream, but he's really here!"

"I see that." He handed Lorenzo a cup of coffee. "Did you get any sleep?"

Lorenzo nodded and smiled, "Best sleep I've had since the last time I was with them."

Derek knew he was lying. Sleep wouldn't really come until Caroline woke up and started ordering them around.

Derek put oatmeal on the table for the twins who were sitting one on each of Lorenzo's legs, both talking with their mouths full.

Derek shook his head at the scene. His sister's rules for her children had clearly gone out the window. Informing her that their table manners had taken a nose dive might be exactly what would wake her up.

"Daddy, can we go see Mommy yet?" Frances asked.

"Mommy is still asleep." Lorenzo told them.

"We'll wake her up. She'll wake up to see us." Joseph told him.

Derek and Lorenzo looked at each other. Derek shrugged.

"The way Mommy is sleeping now isn't like when she's sleeping in her bed."

Frances nodded and said, "Mommy tells us we're good medicine. That we always make her feel better."

Lorenzo sighed, "Let's get dressed and we'll go see her."

Derek looked at him, "The hospital has rules."

Lorenzo scoffed, "Rules are made to be broken. My children want to see their mother. God help anybody that tries to stop me from taking them to see her."

Derek sent Alexis a text to tell her they were heading to the hospital. He thought about asking her to be on stand-by in case they got arrested for whatever Lorenzo did to get the kids in to see their mother, but figured that was something she didn't need to worry about this early.

They got dressed and headed to the hospital.

There was an argument but when Lorenzo told the hospital staff that nothing they had done had woken her up, and asked what harm would it cause for the patient's children to be able to see her and talk to her, he won. The children would be allowed in. Derek thanked God because he knew if Lorenzo had to strap the children to his body and scale the building, the twins would see their mother today.

One child in each arm, Lorenzo followed Derek into the room.

Lorenzo put them down and told them, "No being loud. You can't climb on the bed with her, not yet. You can hold her hand and talk to her, but be careful of the wires and all the stuff they have hooked to her."

Derek stood back as the three most important people in the word to Caroline approached her bed, hand-in-hand. He heard Lorenzo say quietly, "See that? It tells the doctors about how her heart is doing." Then he kissed Caroline's forehead and said, "Good morning beautiful."

Frances asked about every single piece of medical equipment and Lorenzo answered each question calmly and patiently, though Derek wasn't sure if the man had a clue what he was talking about or whether he was making it all up. Joseph, beside the bed held her hand and whispered, "Mommy, please wake up now."

Derek watched as the heart monitor sped up slightly. "Keep talking to her. She can hear you. You're already making her feel better."

Frances touched her hand and said, "We slept in your bed last night. We woke up and Daddy was there."

The monitor sped up even more, bringing in nurses and doctors, but before they could move her family out of the way to check on her, her eyes fluttered opened. Her eyes darted around confused, but as soon as they landed on her family, Derek could see a peacefulness settle in them. Even with a ventilator in her mouth, her lips formed a slight smile.

Joseph told them proudly, "I knew we'd make her wake up!"

The medical team tried to usher the family out of the room to examine her, but that seemed to cause her to panic and her blood pressure and heart rate shot up. The doctor told her, "We're going to remove the ventilator and that might scare your children, so they need to wait outside. We'll let them back in as soon as we can."

She shook her head and Lorenzo said, "Derek will take the kids out and I'll stay here with you, okay? He can bring them back in here when the ventilator is out. It won't be for long."

Caroline nodded.

The doctor tried to argue but Lorenzo told him, "I'm not leaving. It will scare her if I'm not here. I'm not going to see anything in here I haven't seen before and I've probably seen worse. I won't get in the way, but I am not leaving her."

The medical team relented and Derek took the children out. He called Alexis and Sam to let them know Caroline was awake. The filled him in on the funeral plans for Sonny and the ones KiKi had made for Ava. He would need to go see the girl and help her pay for the funeral. It wasn't her fault she had been cursed with such a person for a parent.

The days passed and the funerals were over. Sonny's funeral had been, as Kristina predicted, a circus. Kristina told him, "Olivia made a spectacle of herself. Screaming and crying and carrying on. Jesus. She conveniently forgot during all of her wailing she was opposed enough to his choices that she didn't tell him about Dante. I wanted to slap her. But she got her 15 minutes of fame on every network making a fool out of herself."

Ava's had been private. KiKi had her cremated and spread her ashes in various places. A few days before Thanksgiving and the only thing not normal was Caroline was in the hospital still recovering. All she wanted was to be home and with her family on Thanksgiving.

The hospital staff no longer even tried to argue with Lorenzo, they knew if they told him no, he would just bend the rules if it would make Caroline happy.

The day before Thanksgiving, the doctors said they were releasing Caroline the next morning. She would be home for Thanksgiving. Nana and Derek were preparing all of the food. They all insisted that the plans not change. Caroline wanted everyone at her house for Thanksgiving. She promised she would stay in the bed until it was time to eat and that she wouldn't try to help with anything. She wanted the people she loved with her.

Lorenzo and the children brought her home at 9 AM on Thanksgiving morning. They had a list of doctors' orders to follow. They got her settled in her room and the children were shooed out to watch the parade in the den while their mother rested and the other grown-ups cooked.

At 2, Alexis and her crew showed up along with Carlos and Tim. They would be eating at 3. Caroline walked out and greeted everyone, before anyone could fuss at her for being out of bed she said, "I can rest in that chair as well as I can back there by myself," she said waving her hand towards the back of the house.

Alexis and Sam noticed her hand and looked at each other. "Caroline, is that a ring?" Sam asked her aunt.

Caroline beamed, "Yep. I'm going to make an honest man out of Lorenzo. It was his great-grandmother's. Isn't it the most beautiful ring?"

"We were going to announce it later, at dinner," Lorenzo told them.

The questions came rapid fire – had they set a date, did they want a big wedding, would they get married here?

Lorenzo answered, "Whatever she wants. I just want it done soon. I've waited long enough for her to be my wife."

"The divorce from Grant is final. It is just being able to plan it and find a dress. I can't exactly go dress shopping right now."

Derek looked at her, "Really? You are worried about being able to find a dress when your brother owns magazines, including a bridal magazine? I can have your dream dress here in a week."

"I'm not getting married in a week. I would like to be able to stand longer than 2 minutes at my own wedding without all of you hovering and fussing at me. And we are getting married in a church, by minister or priest. None of this running to the courthouse, or getting married by a justice of the peace business."

"What if we got a minister to come here?" Lorenzo offered.

"I want you in a tux. I want the children dressed up. Just think how cute they'll be all dressed up. You are offering to get married here so you can wear jeans and not have to shave. And don't even think about denying it."

"A tux?"

"At least a dark suit. I am sure no one will be working tomorrow but I'll call around to churches next week. Whatever I want, remember?"

Derek laughed, "Lorenzo, that statement is going to come back to bite you a lot. Caroline, remember that bridal magazine I own? I can get any wedding planner in the country to plan your wedding in exchange for an article to be written. You won't have to do a thing."

"For heaven's sake, I can call churches and find available dates. It isn't like I am planning to try to build a church. Derek, why don't you and Lorenzo concentrate on helping Nana finish the food so we can eat? Or do I need to go in there and help her myself?"

That ended the wedding talk for the time being. They had a perfect meal surrounded by every one they loved. Derek's first Thanksgiving with his daughter, grandson, and Alexis was in a word, perfect.

After dinner and clean up came exhausted children and adults. Caroline was ordered to bed. Sam, Kristina, and Molly wanted to hit some stores that were opening early for Black Friday sales, while Tim, Silas, and Rafe were sweet talked into going too. Carlos took off to see Sabrina who had finally finished her Thanksgiving day shift. Derek drove Alexis and Danny home.

They put him in bed and sat on the sofa. The past week had been a whirlwind. Alexis said, "We haven't been able to spend much time together with everything going on."

Derek told her, "I'm sorry if it has felt like I skipped out on sessions with Kevin, or if I have been neglecting you."

"There's nothing for you to be sorry about. Your sister and her family needed you. I saw the Derek Wells I fell in love with while you were taking care of them." She leaned over and kissed him.

Yep, Thanksgiving had been perfect, Derek thought as Alexis led him down the hall to her bedroom.


	45. Chapter 45

Derek walked into Caroline's house at 9 AM the day after Thanksgiving. "Well somebody has a pretty big smile plastered on his face this morning," Caroline told Lorenzo with a wink.

"Why are you out of bed?" Derek asked Caroline, then looked at Lorenzo, "Why is she out of bed?"

Lorenzo responded, "She is getting ready to go back and get in the bed. She came out here to eat with the kids. Go take a shower. I'm taking the children to pick out the Christmas tree while Caroline rests. Nana can stay here with Caroline. Call Alexis and see if she and her crew want to go with us and get their tree."

Caroline told them, "I am right here. Quit talking about me like I am not here. I am not a child. I do not need a baby-sitter. You can _all_ go. I will be fine here by myself. Nana loves Christmas and I trust her to pick put the tree far more than either of you or the children. I do not want some God awful monstrosity of a tree because you two get annoyed by the crowd."

Lorenzo shook his head and Derek said, "No, Lorenzo is right. You've only

been out of the hospital for a day. A week ago you were unconscious. You don't need to be left alone."

"You are going to a Christmas tree farm a few miles away to pick out a Christmas tree. You are not going to Mars. You'll be gone for an hour, maybe two, tops. I'll be asleep the whole time. I promise. I'll get in the bed and not move until you get back."

"Nope. You aren't staying here alone. You aren't ready for that!" Lorenzo said.

"I am not ready to be left alone for an hour?"

Derek could see the argument brewing so he thought he'd step in, "He just means you may think you feel better than you actually do. We would feel better if someone was here with you."

"Oh, so now I don't know how I feel? And you two would feel better if someone is watching me to make sure that I don't what? Make a jail break? Go try to run a marathon? May I remind you both I have been taking care of myself, with no help from anyone else, since I was 15-years-old!" She pointed at Derek, "While you were busy playing Julian Jerome, wannabe mob boss," then she pointed at Lorenzo, "And you were playing GI Joe, Super Special Navy SEAL edition, I was getting myself through college, graduate school, and Quantico."

"Caroline, that's not what we meant. You need to calm down before you rip out your sutures and upset the children," Lorenzo said.

"Oh my Lord! Do not tell me to calm down! I am not some damsel in distress in need of rescue by the two of you! And don't tell me about _my_ children! Unlike you two, the only nights I have spent away from_ my_ children since they have been in this world was when I was in the hospital. I know them better than anyone else!"

Derek swore he thought he could see Lorenzo counting to thirty to try to not say the wrong thing before he said softly, "Caroline, we know you can take care of yourself and the kids. You are the best mother in the world. No one is arguing that you aren't perfectly capable of taking care of all of us. We just don't want you to try to do too much too soon and wind up back in the hospital."

"Okay so why don't you just tie me up or handcuff me? I have mine from work, you can use those. Oh that's right! The last time we did that I ended up pregnant with twins. God knows the last thing the world needs is me spitting out more kids that I don't know how to take care of, at least according to you two."

Derek looked around for an escape route. The doctors had warned them there would be mood swings. Between all of the medications, PTS from the shooting, and recovery from the surgery, they had been warned, but he had never imagined it would be like this, this bad.

Caroline tearily said, "Both of you can go straight to hell!" and turned and walked back to the bedroom.

Lorenzo looked at Derek, "Sorry about that. She needed help in the shower this morning and you know how independent she is….."

Derek said, "Her first sentence was, 'I do it myself!' She was born with an independent streak."

"I found her curled up in the corner of the shower crying because she couldn't wash her hair. It is killing her to not be able to do much - being too tired to help bathe the kids, or to go get a tree, or to decorate. You know how much she loves this stuff. The holidays are her thing. She goes all out. She wants to be able to go to the stores into all of the chaos and shop for the kids, for all of us. She wants to bake cookies with them and make a gingerbread house. She had to sit and do nothing yesterday but eat and then we made her go back to bed. We even tried to bulldoze our way into planning the wedding."

"Damn. I didn't think she would be that upset about me offering to find her a dress and a wedding planner.

"Normally she wouldn't be. A month ago she would have been thrilled. I don't even think that is part of it. She almost died. She flat-lined on the way to the hospital and they got her back. We came so close to losing her. And she knows it."

"Lorenzo, I know. Carlos told me. I can remember looking at him and him being covered in her blood. I couldn't figure out how she had any blood left in her if he had that much of it on him."

"I'd marry her right now with her wearing the God awful fluffy robe if she'd agree to it, but if she wants a wedding that makes the one from **The Sound of Music** look like an intimate family get together, that's the one I'll give her. If I have to dress like a penguin, I'll dress like a penguin."

"Maybe we should wait until she calms down to go get the tree."

"Go take a shower. The kids will not be happy if we don't go soon and that will piss her off even more. Call Alexis see if they want to go. I'll go check on Caroline. That display of emotion probably wiped her out and she'll be asleep until noon."

30 minutes later they were all on their way to the Christmas tree farm. Caroline was asleep and would be asleep for a couple of hours, and Carlos agreed to come to the house to be there if she needed anything. "And to face her wrath if she finds out he came over specifically to be there just in case she might possibly need something," Lorenzo said under his breath.

They went to the tree farm with Alexis and her family and picked out a perfect, Nana approved tree. With each family happy with their tree purchase they went to home to get the trees in stands and begin decorating.

It was decided that Derek would help Lorenzo and the kids get their tree up, then he would go to the Davis home and help them get their tree up with Silas and Rafe's help.

When they got back to Caroline's house, Carlos informed them as he helped them get the tree in the stand and up that he had not heard a peep out of her, she was sound asleep each time he had checked on her.

Lorenzo explained to the children that they would eat lunch and then put the lights on the tree before they could start hanging ornaments. While they began to eat lunch, he went to check on Caroline.

He came back out a few minutes later and told Derek, "She's awake. She feels bad about earlier. She is coming in here to eat and then she will be on the sofa directing the tree decorating until she decides to go back and get in the bed."

Derek looked at Lorenzo and smiled, "So when she says 'jump'?"

"We don't say a thing, we just jump," Lorenzo sighed. "When you see your chance to escape and go see Alexis, take it. Caroline will have to start her mandated sessions with the bureau's shrink soon. That might help with the some of emotions."

Caroline came out and softly said to Derek, "About earlier, I am sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry about. We were hovering. You have always hated when people are hovering over you."

The twins came into the den from the kitchen, "Mommy! Did you see our tree? Come see our tree!"

They led her to the tree and proudly told her how they had picked it out all by themselves without anybody else's help. Frances gave Lorenzo a pointed look and added accusingly, "But Daddy wouldn't buy it until Nana said it was perfect and you'd love it."

"It is the best, most beautiful, perfect tree I have ever seen in my life. I may have to hire you two as our official Christmas tree picker outers for the rest of time," she told them as she leaned down and kissed the tops of their heads. They ran off back to the kitchen to finish their lunch.

Derek watched as she walked over to Lorenzo, stood up on her tip toes and kissed him lightly on the lips. "Thank you. It is perfect. I love you. I am sorry I yelled at you earlier and those things I said, I am sorry, both of you. I didn't mean it. I don't know what's wrong with me," she said, her eyes filling with tears.

"Baby, there is nothing wrong with you. You got shot. You are recovering from a major injury and surgery. You have a ton of meds running through your system. Quit apologizing. Please."

Lorenzo's phone rang, he looked at it, hit _ignore_, and put it back in his pocket.

"That was DC. Again. You can't keep ignoring their calls."

"I am not talking to them. There is nothing to say. I told them I was not leaving Port Charles and my family. I told them I was done and I am. I am done chasing terrorists. The only people I am chasing are those children in the kitchen. And you when you are recovered enough for that kind of thing," Lorenzo told her with a wink before kissing her. Then added, "Besides I'm on leave now."

"Well you could get a job in the field office here. I would be your boss."

Lorenzo laughed, "You've been my boss since about 1 minute after we met. You just didn't know it. The mayor called. He wants to talk to me about transitioning to local PD. As Devane's replacement."

Nana walked in and told Derek, "Derek, I have a big thing of turkey soup for you to take for Alexis and her family when you go. I know she doesn't like to cook."

Derek laughed, "It isn't that she doesn't like to cook. It is more like an unmitigated disaster when she tries to cook. Thank you!"

He told them he was heading to see Alexis and help them begin their decorating and he left.

He walked into the house with the soup which they put in a pot to heat up slowly for lunch, and they set up the tree. Danny, wiped out from chasing after Frances and Joseph at the tree farm, had been napping woke up in time to help put ornaments on the tree.

As they were putting the ornaments on the tree, Sam said, "Dad, I've been thinking. I think I want to call Lucas and tell him I found out we share a biological father. I mean I think I need to call Bobbie first to make sure Lucas being adopted isn't some secret they hid from him, with Carly in the family I doubt they have many secrets, but I think I'd like to get to know him as his sister. What do you think?"


	46. Chapter 46

"Dad, I've been thinking. I think I want to call Lucas and tell him I found out we share a biological father. I mean I think I need to call Bobbie first to make sure Lucas being adopted isn't some secret they hid from him, with Carly in the family I doubt they have many secrets, but I think I'd like to get to know him as his sister. What do you think?"

Derek was stunned. He had thought about Lucas. He had thought about him often, debating whether he should intrude on the young man's life and introduce himself as his biological father, or if Lucas would be happier if he was left alone by his biological family. Since finding out Lucas was his son, Derek's attention had been elsewhere. There had been the investigation into Ava, the break-up with Alexis after she found out the truth, the turmoil the truth coming out caused everyone in the Davis family, Danny's battle with the flu, the therapy sessions, then Caroline had been shot and almost died.

The knowledge that Lucas was his and that Cheryl had lied about the paternity of their son, had hidden from him, from his family when she found out she was pregnant, had hit him hard. He had been told that the baby was Robert's.

He felt Sam tugging his arm and leading him out to the deck. She closed the door behind them.

"Dad? What do you think? I think it would be nice for Danny to have another uncle. Of course, Lucas may not want another sister after dealing with Carly most of his life. If Molly and Kristina were like Carly, maybe I wouldn't be looking to have a relationship with another sibling. Or maybe I would be praying for a better sibling to come along."

"I think Lucas would be lucky to have a relationship with you. He's an adult, so I am not sure you need to get Bobbie's permission, but it would be a huge shock if he doesn't know he's adopted. Your mother wouldn't have known if Duke hadn't told her. He was older when Bobbie and Tony adopted him after his biological mother died. There was a custody battle. He was young, but I wouldn't begin to know how much he knows or remembers about all of that."

"But what do you think? Don't you want to get to know him? Like you've gotten to know me, I mean."

"Sam, getting to know you, your mother, your family, knowing you're my daughter is the best thing that's happened to me. Lucas had a father growing up. He had a good father. I don't know if he'll feel like I'm trying or I think I can replace Tony now that Tony is gone and all the hard work that went into raising Lucas to be a decent, successful human being is over."

"So you think I should just leave it alone?"

"That's not what I said. Maybe it's self-preservation. That time in my life wasn't exactly my most shining moment. I was a different person when I fathered Lucas. Who I was, what I did, was scary enough to his mother that Cheryl ran away and lied about who fathered her child. I became Derek Wells because I didn't want to be that person anymore. I didn't want to be Julian Jerome. "

"Julian Jerome fathered me…"

"Julian Jerome was a boy in 1979. A boy with no plans to get in the family business. The Julian Jerome who got your mother pregnant in 1979, was a better person than the Julian Jerome that got Cheryl Stansbury pregnant in 1989."

"Why was she so scared of you? Cheryl I mean. Why was Cheryl scared of you?"

"I never hurt her. I swear to you. I loved her. I would have never have hurt her. Even when I knew she was seeing Robert Scorpio, I had associates who told me not killing her made me seem weak, but I would never…"

"I know that! I didn't mean to imply that I thought she was scared you would hurt her physically."

"She was scared of the life I was living. She ran for the same reason Caroline did. She knew the Jerome family was crazy. She knew we were criminals, little better than a street gang. She knew I had insane relatives. I had enemies. I had enemies that would hurt her, hurt our children to get to me."

"So do you think if more people know you are really Julian Jerome, old enemies might come after you? Come after us?"

"I wish I could say no. I wish more than anything I could tell you that being related to Julian Jerome wouldn't cause you any heartache. I wish I could tell you that I knew for certain that old enemies wouldn't come out of the woodwork."

"But you can't?"

"The day Caroline got shot, the day Ava was killed, they were bringing Ava in to question her about Cheryl's murder. Lucas's biological mother was killed to get to me."

"What? What are you talking about!?"

"After she found out about Lucas being my son, Caroline started investigating Cheryl's accident, the accident that killed her."

"What kind of accident? Did she fall down stairs? What kind of accident would make Caroline think Ava killed Cheryl?"

"Cheryl was killed in a car accident in Phoenix a couple of years after Julian Jerome died."

"Ava lived in Phoenix and was driving when Cheryl was killed in an accident?"

"No. The Jerome method of putting out hits on someone was much cleaner. Caroline found evidence tying Cheryl's accident to a cut brake line, and evidence tying the cut brake line to Ava."

"Why would Ava kill Cheryl? You were supposed to be dead. Was it because she left you and she blamed her for your death?"

"This is really complicated and I think your mother needs to be here when you hear this. She needs to hear this with you."

Sam went and got Alexis. After a few minutes in the house talking, they came out. They stood looking at Derek, who told them, "It is going to take patience on your part to hear this. And when you hear all of it, I won't blame you if you tell me to stay away from you and your family. You both might want to sit down."

"Derek, you are part of this family. I love you. You are Sam's father and Danny's grandfather. We have nowhere else to be. We want to know. We need to know."

"In 1988, my older sister Olivia took out a hit on me so she could inherit the family business from our father. The mob is very patriarchal. Sons go into the business, daughters marry someone in the business. Women didn't normally take an active role, but Olivia had other plans, so she tried to have me killed. The people she tried to get to help her get rid of me didn't want to make an enemy of the Jeromes, so I was told ahead of time. When the hit took place, I faked my death."

"Dad, I know you ended up killing Olivia to keep her from killing you" Sam looked in the glass door at Danny hanging an ornament on the tree. "Thank God she didn't succeed in killing you. But this is all stuff that I found when I researched you after you told mom who you used to be."

He smiled at his daughter, "You get your brains from your mother. So you know I faked my death in 1988, complete with a memorial service, and that I didn't stay dead that time either."

"Right. So how does this get to Ava and her killing Cheryl?"

"So if we move into 1989, Cheryl was torn between Robert Scorpio and me, and the Jeromes' feud with the McKays was bubbling over. I wanted a family of my own, I thought I wanted it with Cheryl, but she left. Went into hiding. I got tired of always looking over my shoulder, wondering when someone was gong to try to take me out to try to take over our territory. I missed Caroline. I hadn't seen her or heard from her in years, since our mother's funeral. We went from talking several times a day to not speaking at all. I knew her life goals. I had her ultimatum. I knew where she was. So I called."

"We know Caroline helped get you your new identity and get you out of the mob."

"What I didn't know when I left, when they fake my death in 1990, was that I had gotten Cheryl pregnant. She was on the run, running away from me, running away from my life. I also didn't know that since I had faked my death a couple of years earlier, Ava would get suspicious that I had done it again. Ava wanted to make sure Julian was really dead so when the time was right she could make her move and be a female mob boss."

He looked at Alexis and Sam to gauge their reactions to hearing just how insane his life had been in 1990, and continued, "Caroline investigated and found out that Ava knew about the baby. Ava's first attempt to smoke me out was by selling Cheryl's baby, our baby, Lucas, on the black market to an adoption agency that specialized in selling babies to desperate couples. Cheryl was told he was stillborn."

Sam put her hand to her mouth, "That might be the cruelest thing one woman could do to another," as Alexis grabbed their daughter's other hand.

"I know. It is. I guess she thought that maybe Cheryl had run away as part of the plan for me to disappear. She thought that the plan was for us to meet up later and ride off into the sunset and raise our child. She thought that was why I didn't kill Cheryl or have her killed when I found out she was sleeping with Robert too."

"But Cheryl didn't know you left the mob?"

"Nope. She didn't have a clue. Cheryl leaving me, more or less for Robert along with wanting nothing to do with a mobster, was the last straw. I thought she and Robert and their baby would be able to be a happy family if I was gone. I had lost everyone I loved because of the family business. What good is a family business if you don't have a family?" Alexis wiped a tear from her eye.

Derek continued, "Cheryl was told Lucas was dead, and Bobbie desperate for a baby, arranged to pay to adopt a baby. I don't know when exactly she realized Lucas had been stolen and sold on the black market, or if she was just so desperate to be a mother that she just didn't care, but she ended up with Lucas. Cheryl never believed Lucas was stillborn. She told anyone who would listen she had heard her baby cry. Robert and Anna investigated a baby selling ring, found out Lucas had been born in Delaware at the same hospital on the same day that Cheryl's baby had been born. Bobbie figured it out. Figured out she had adopted Cheryl's baby, the baby that Cheryl had been told died, and that she was not going to get to keep him, and she tried to run. Robert caught up with her and took Lucas from her and Cheryl finally got him back. Tony left Bobbie, took their daughter and left. They made some attempts at reviving their marriage, but Carly coming to town destroyed any hope of that."

"How do you know all of this?"

"FBI dossiers. Caroline. Carlos. Other agents. An investigation in several states. After Cheryl got Lucas back, she was still insisting he was Robert's. I guess she was actually just flat-out lying about it, at least that is what Robert thought. Maybe she believed it, maybe she said it so many times that she believed it herself, or just wanted it to be true. It doesn't matter now. Robert had a blood test done and it proved he wasn't Lucas's father. Cheryl finally realized Robert didn't love her, wouldn't marry her and be a father to Lucas, and she took a job on Phoenix."

"Where she had the accident?"

"She was in Phoenix for a year or so, and they speculate that Ava, I guess since they didn't really get to ask her why before Sonny killed her, decided to try to smoke me out again. I guess she thought if Cheryl was dead, there would be no way Julian wouldn't claim their son. There was no way I would come out and claim my son. Sometimes when people go into witness protection, especially if the death of one is used as a cover story, families are separated for a year or so before they are reunited. As sick as it was, it was also actually pretty brilliant for a mobster to think like that. She, Ava, found some associates who arranged a meeting with a mechanic who helped certain friends out for a certain price by arranging accidents to get rid of people. Not as attention grabbing as a shot to the head, but almost as effective if the timing is right."

"Dad, what are you saying? Ava is dead. That is the one good thing Sonny ever did, kill Ava. But Ava can't hurt us anymore. Ava can't hurt Mom, or Danny, or me. Or Lucas."

"Derek, you didn't tell us right away when you figured out you were Sam's father because you were scared of what Ava would do to us if we knew? What other people would do if they knew Julian Jerome wasn't dead?"

"That was part of it and I didn't even know about Lucas and Cheryl then. She, Ava, was trying to bring back the Jerome Crime Family, and if it was known that you had a connection to me, to the family could have been dangerous. I should have never told her. I was in shock and next thing I know I was telling her I was Sam's father. I've always known that if Ava had to choose between power and family, she would choose power. Now I know I was right. She sold Lucas and she killed Cheryl all to try to get to me."

"But she's gone and she's not coming back. We can tell Lucas who we are to him. She won't be able to hurt him."

"Sam, I am nothing more than a sperm donor.. I haven't been a father to you or to Lucas. For all of the grief I have given Lorenzo over the years for being a deadbeat and disappearing, I did the same thing. At least he was doing something useful when he left Caroline and the kids. He dropped everything when she needed him, quit the job he loves, the job he is the best in the world at, to come take care of her and those kids. I was making money. I show up when you and Lucas are grown, when all the parenting is over. Besides, if my family, my sisters, can hurt me, hurt the people I love, as much as Olivia and Ava did, what in the world could enemies of the Jerome family, people who hate me, do to all of you? To Lucas?"

"Derek, what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that the more I think about it, the more I believe that this time, this time Julian Jerome needs to stay dead."


	47. Chapter 47

"I'm saying that the more I think about it, the more I believe that this time, this time Julian Jerome needs to stay dead."

"Dad, what does that mean? People know you're my father. If I tell Lucas that we're related, he's going to figure it out. He is going to figure out that you're Julian Jerome."

"Lucas lives across the country. He's in Seattle. They rarely come to Port Charles. Until Morgan's court date, he hadn't been here in years, correct?" Derek looked at Sam, "The chances of running into the two of you while you are hanging out during brother-sister time is miniscule. If he wants to meet you, I'll fly you and Danny out to Seattle."

"He hasn't lived in Port Charles since he was a teenager. And, yes, that was his first time here in years, as far as I know," Alexis told him. "But Derek, the chances are pretty good he and Bobbie could be coming to Port Charles for Morgan's trial. I can feel Ric out when he comes by to get Molly later to see when the next court date is, or if a trial date has been set. Even if Morgan is going to try for a plea agreement, I would imagine Bobbie would come support her grandson."

"Dad, are you telling us you don't want to get to know Lucas? You don't want to get to know your son?"

"I am telling you it would be better for him if no one knows of my connection to him. He's not my son. He's Tony's son. Tony Jones raised him and did a damn fine job."

Sam looked confused, "I don't understand. Why is Lucas not your son, but I am your daughter?"

Derek told her, "The situation with you and Lucas is totally different."

"How? How is it different?" Sam asked.

"You didn't grow up in a strong family. By the time I found out about you and your mother and our history, I already felt a connection to both of you and to Danny. It is different. He seems like a good kid, but…."

"But you didn't know about Lucas just like you didn't know about me."

"No one outside of a select few knows Julian Jerome fathered you. Maybe the wrong people know Julian Jerome fathered Lucas Jones."

"Dad, do you know how glad I am we found each other? And before you say it, I am not glad I met you _just_ because you saved Danny. I remember after we found out you were a match, and that we could take your marrow that day. You and I, we were in Danny's room alone after Mom and Silas left. You knew then I was your daughter, and looking back I know you wanted to tell me. You wanted to tell Mom and me that you were _the_ Julian, that you were my father and Danny's grandfather. That day, I told you that I had almost was scare, that I thought that I might outlive my little boy. I said, 'then you show up out of nowhere,' and how grateful I was that you were going to give him a fighting chance, that you were going to save him. I said that wished I had the Cassadine fortune like Nikolas so I could repay you in some small way. And do you remember what you said to me?"

Derek nodded, and said, "Of course I do, but that has nothing to do with Lucas."

"It has everything to do with Lucas. You told me I could do two things for you – you wanted me to make sure I took good care of my little boy and you asked me to let you be a friend to both Danny and me. You were a great friend to me and to Danny before I found out you're my father. Why won't you give Lucas the same chance to have you as a friend? To have someone else he knows he can call if he needs something?"

"He lives in Seattle. That's on the other side of the country. You and I live in the same town, it was a completely different situation with you than it is with Lucas."

"I know where Seattle is…"

Alexis interrupted, "Sam, sweetie, why don't you go in and help Danny and the others with the tree? I want to talk to your father. Alone."

Sam looked at her father, "I am not done talking to you about this. Mom is saving your ass big time right now on this," then walked inside.

Derek looked at Alexis and said, "I guess she's too old to send to her room for being disrespectful to her father?"

"I've tried to ground her and the whole her being an adult thing makes it difficult to enforce. More to the point, in this case I am on her side. And I asked her to go inside so I could talk to you alone about this."

Derek looked around and Alexis laughed, "There is no escape from this deck. The baby gate is blocking the stairs to the yard, and we have a house full of people decorating the tree. You'd never make it out of the house."

"Alexis, I'm not trying to escape, I just don't know what you want to say to me about this. I don't want Lucas to know I am his father. That is my choice."

"I understand that it is your choice. I just don't understand _why_ it is your choice. And that is why I wanted to talk to you alone. And do not insult my intelligence by saying it is because he lives in Seattle. And I am not so sure I believe if the world finds out Julian Jerome is alive old enemies are going to come out of the woodwork and kill us all. Obviously, you have not been in the _business_ for 20+ years, so I doubt they would see you as a threat to whatever territory used to be Jerome territory. If you were _really_ afraid of that, I doubt you would have ever told us the truth. If you don't want Lucas to know you are his father, that is going to make it a bit difficult for Sam to tell him that she his sister. So please, just tell me why you don't want Lucas to know you are his father?"

"Lucas has a father. He doesn't need another one. Sam didn't really have one growing up."

"That is such bull! Yes, Lucas is way past the age of needing a father to teach him how to shave, and to play catch, but so is Sam. You and I didn't get to raise Sam, but she still needs us. Even though she was way past the age a lot of people consider a grown woman, an adult, to need her parents when each of us found her, she still needs us. She just needs us in a different way. When Danny had that high temperature, when he had the flu, who did she need? Who did she want? She wanted us. She needed us. You stepped off that elevator and you knew exactly what she needed. As soon as she saw you she ran right to you. I swear in my head and my heart, I saw her as a very scared little girl who needed her Daddy. That's when I knew I would never be able to stay mad at you. As much as I wanted to stay mad at you, as much as I wanted to hate you, I knew it just wasn't going to be possible."

As Derek wiped tears from his eyes, Alexis held his face in her hands and said, "You adore Sam. I know you would walk through fire for her, for all of us. Getting to know Lucas, seeing if he has any interest in getting to know her and Danny is important to her. You love our daughter and our grandson, and as much as I know you love her, I need to understand so I can help her understand why you are denying her this one thing, when I know there is nothing else in the world that you would deny her. So, my love, please tell me why you don't want Lucas to know you are his biological father? And please tell me the truth this time."

"If I had been able to talk to you, if I had been able to find you, if I had been able to see you again in New Hampshire, Lucas probably wouldn't even exist."

"If you had been able to find me, we might all be dead thanks to the Cassadine crazies. Sweetie, we've talked about this. We don't know what might have happened. Maybe we would have lived happily ever after, or maybe the pressure of being teen parents and trying to be together when we barely knew each other would have strangled us and we would have hated each other before Sam started Kindergarten. What we have now is good. I am the happiest I have ever been. I need to know why you are so opposed to Lucas knowing who you are to him?"

"I am a virtual stranger to Lucas. We met a couple of months ago, briefly. If I called him right now, he would probably say, 'Derek who?' I just don't think it is appropriate to barge into his life like Carly barges into the guests' rooms at the Metro Court."

"Nice try. Not buying it."

"Alexis, Cheryl is dead because of me. Lucas was stolen at birth and sold because of me. His mother died because of me. He was at the center of a nasty custody battle because of me. Ava wanted to get to me and had his mother murdered in her attempt to get to me. How in God's name could he not hate me when he finds all of that out?"

"Why would he hate you because of what Ava did? He hardly grew up homeless in the park. He has had a great life with Bobbie and Tony as his parents. I am sure if he knows everything that happen, what happened and how he ended up with Tony and Bobbie, he wonders 'what if?' We all have those 'what if' moments, but he isn't going to hate you because of what your sister did."

"Have you noticed how much Caroline is suffering because of what Ava did because of me? Caroline was shot because I pushed her to investigate Ava's part in Cheryl's death, in Lucas being stolen and sold. My sister cannot wash her own hair, she cannot pick up her own children, she can' barely by herself for longer than 15 minutes, and she cannot have a conversation about how she feels without having an emotional meltdown because I got her shot."

"Okay, you need to stop. You did not get Caroline shot. Hell, Ava didn't even get Caroline shot. Sonny is the one who shot Caroline. Caroline is going through hell, but she is recovering and in a few months she is going to be fine and back at work. But what Caroline is going through is not on you. What Caroline is going through is all on Sonny."

"Alexis, I …." Alexis silenced him with a kiss.

After she pulled back from the kiss she smiled at him and said, "I will ask Sam to drop it. For now. Just for now. Just for the next few days. The truth is I think now that things have semi-settled down, everything is finally hitting you. Danny got sick and almost as soon as we got him well and got him home, Caroline got shot. When that happened, you were in shock at first. Then you went into auto-pilot to take care of things. But she is on the mend. Lorenzo is home, he is taking care of her, of the children, and so you finally have had a moment to catch your breath and to let everything sink in. So I am going to tell our daughter to give you a little time and let you think about it, let you get used to the idea. But I know our daughter, and there is no way in hell she is going to just let this go. She would like your support. She happens to be very proud she is your daughter and she thinks Lucas would be proud to have come from you too."


	48. Chapter 48

Sam backed off. Nothing else was mentioned about Lucas for the rest of the weekend and into the net week. Derek knew he was living on borrowed time. He knew Alexis was right about their daughter, she wouldn't give up, not when it was really important to her.

A week after Thanksgiving Derek got a call fro Lorenzo asking him if he would come to the house for a couple of hours the next day so that Lorenzo and Nana could take the children to the museum. Thinking nothing of it he said he would be happy to go stay with his sister, bring her lunch so that she wouldn't get upset about them not leaving her alone.

Shortly after he got to the house Lorenzo, Nana, and the kids left. After they had eaten, Caroline got up, went to the other room, came, back and put a stack of pictures down in front of him. "My nephew, Lucas, is a good looking kid. I guess he isn't really a kid now, is he? He's an adult. I thought maybe you'd like to see pictures of him."

"I know what he looks like. I met him a couple of months ago."

"You know what he looks like now. I have pictures in here that show him since he was a baby. I have his school pictures from Kindergarten through High School."

"Where did you get these? How?"

"Really? Seriously? You are asking me how I got pictures of someone? Derek, did you forget that I am an FBI agent and Supervisory Special Agent with the highest security clearance anybody can have? Did you seriously not know I'd be getting every picture and every bit of information I could get my hands on as soon as I found out about Lucas? As soon as I knew that you are his biological father? I _told_ you I was going to find out all I could about him."

"I cannot believe you blindsided me like this! I should have known when you didn't have a fit that I came to stay with you while they were gone that you were up to something!"

"Leave. If you don't want to look at the pictures and talk about this, I'm not going to hold a gun to your head and force you. Leave. I'll be fine by myself."

"Lorenzo knew you were doing this?"

"Yep. He thought it was a brilliant plan. He knows and I know you won't leave me alone right now."

"So Sam and Alexis have talked to you?"

"Derek, we talk daily."

"They shouldn't have talked to you about this. Not right now. You're still…"

"I swear on your life, if you say 'recovering' I will go get my gun and shoot you."

"They still shouldn't have come to you."

"They didn't bring it up to me. I brought it up to them. I asked them if you had talked about Lucas and contacting him. They tried to talk to you. And frankly I don't appreciate you blaming not wanting to tell Lucas you are his biological father on me getting shot."

"That is not what I said. I …."

"I got shot. There are agents who will spend their entire career never having a weapon even fired at them, never being shot, and never having to shoot and kill someone. That's not my fate. I have the gunplay trifecta now. But you don't get the blame for me getting shot. Sonny does. And if I am honest about blame, maybe I deserve some too. Maybe I wasn't as careful, as observant as I should have been, as I usually am, when I went out to watch Ava's perp walk."

"Why are all of you trying to force me to try to form some kind of relationship with Lucas? He lives on the other side of the country. He has a father. He had a father. I was just a sperm donor."

"The same reason I told you to claim your family and told you to tell Alexis who you are. Lucas may want nothing to do with you. He will probably never call you _Dad_ the way Sam does. You are right he has parents. Tony and Bobbie raised him, so he doesn't need you to be his father, but if you heard he needed bone marrow like Danny did, what would you do? What if something happens and he needs to know his family's medical history?"

"I agreed to be Danny's bone marrow donor before I knew he was my grandson."

"That is so not the point! We can't force you to tell Lucas who you are or to approach Bobbie about it if you're unsure how he would react, or what exactly he knows, but Sam wants to tell him they share a father."

"I told Sam I have no objection her getting to know him."

"Derek, she loves you. She is going to want to talk about you. To let him know how terrific you are. I know you. I know how much you always wanted a family and how much. You love the family you found, they family you have made with not only Alexis, Sam, and Danny, but with Molly and Kristina too."

"There would be no reason other for her to talk to Lucas about Derek Wells."

"Derek, you are her father. You saved Danny's life. Your name is bound to come up in conversation. I would like to know my nephew on a more personal level than what reading about him in government documents provides."

"We don't even know if Lucas knows Julian Jerome is his biological father. Whatever Sam does or doesn't do she needs to talk to Bobbie before she calls Lucas. I doubt Bobbie will want Lucas to have any part of the Jerome family."

"So if she calls Bobbie and Bobbie tells her Lucas would be receptive? And probably love to meet Sam and Danny?"

"I told Sam I would fly her to Seattle if Lucas wants to meet her and Danny. I have private planes. I can fly her out tomorrow if she wants."

"Derek, you may not have to fly Sam anywhere. My sources tell me Lucas and Bobbie will be here, in Port Charles, in a couple of days."


	49. Chapter 49

"I told Sam I would fly her to Seattle if Lucas wants to meet her and Danny. I have private planes. I can fly her out tomorrow if she wants."

"Derek, you may not have to fly Sam anywhere. My sources tell me Lucas and Bobbie will be here, in Port Charles, in a couple of days."

Derek's mouth dropped open, "Why are they coming to town? Something to do with Morgan?"

"No, nothing to do with Morgan. Bobbie has some legal issues to deal with because of the bust at Kelly's. And Lucas is coming to interview at GH for a position."

"What? Why is he interviewing at General Hospital?"

"Derek, he might be doing his residency at General Hospital. He might be moving back to Port Charles. You need to face the reality that you may come face-to-face with Lucas regularly."

"How do you know all of this? Are you tracking him?"

"Derek, I've been doing this for over 20 years, and a lot of people owe me a lot of favors. You know I had a detail on him and on Bobbie. You knew I was going to keep track of him. You had to know that wasn't going to stop just because I got shot."

"When will they be here? When will Lucas and Bobbie be in Port Charles?"

"Derek, they get here early next week. They have open-ended round trip tickets. Carly has them in a suite at the Metro Court. It is booked indefinitely."

"Have you told Sam?"

"No. I thought I'd give you the chance to tell her. But if you don't tell her I will."

Derek nodded and said, "I wouldn't expect anything less from you. I'll tell her. She will definitely be exited about this. I hope Bobbie will believe I am not the same person I was in 1989. I hope she knows when Julian died in 1990, and Derek Wells took his place, that I didn't, I wouldn't…"

"Derek, if not for Julian Jerome, there would be no Lucas. At the very least, she has to be thankful for that. Life is not linear. It doesn't go in a straight line. There are detours and dead ends and it gets messy. You made some mistakes. We all make mistakes. Your goal in 1988, was to turn things that weren't so up and up into legitimate businesses. Other people objected to that. You got pulled into situations you never wanted to be part of, and you did some things you aren't proud of, but Bobbie and Tony did too. Bobbie will see you aren't the same person now."

"What if Lucas doesn't want to get to know Sam or me? He may have no desire to get to know his biological family."

"Derek, remember how you were scared to tell Alexis and Sam who you were? Remember that your first instinct when you figured out you were her father wasn't to keep it a secret, but to tell her? Can you imagine how much smoother the past few months would have gone if you had just gone with your gut?"

"If you are telling me to go with my gut where Lucas is concerned, I think my gut is telling me to not tell him."

"Derek, that isn't your gut. That's your fear. I know you're scared he is going to reject you. Sam is scared of that too. I know if he does, that will break Sam's heart and yours, but that is a chance she is willing to take. Except for a few visits with Sean and Tiffany over the years, he's never had, or even thought he would have, the chance to know anyone from his biological family. Cheryl is dead. Everyone thinks both of his biological parents are dead."

"I can handle it if he wants nothing to do with me. I'm not sure Sam can."

"Derek, she's tougher than you think. She knows it is a possibility. In less than a year, she has had s critically ill child, had her child's life saved by a stranger, found her father, and discovered she has a brother. I think she can handle just about anything life throws at her."

"She is an amazing woman, just like her mother."

"You haven't had a stress-free year yourself. You have discovered you have 2 adult children in this world that you knew nothing about a year ago. Honestly, a year ago, would you have ever guessed you would be playing loving family man to a woman like Alexis and her family, including your own adult daughter and your grandson? I think Lucas is going to consider himself lucky to be a part of your family."

"I can't replace Tony in Lucas's life, and I wouldn't even try. They have to know that I would never try. The most I can hope for is he'll let me be his friend. That he will know I will be there if he needs anything."

That night as they were preparing dinner Derek told Alexis and Sam that Lucas and Bobbie would be in town in a matter of days. "Caroline gave me some news today."

Sam looked at Derek, "Did she tell you they set a date? A New Year's Eve wedding will be so much fun!"

"She told me, but that wasn't the main topic of our conversation, but I think you will be just as excited about what we did talk about - Lucas and Bobbie are coming to Port Charles. Bobbie has to come deal with some legal fall-out from the bust at Kelly's. Lucas is coming to interview at General Hospital. There is a chance he will be doing his residency here."

Sam's eyes lit up, "He might be moving back to Port Charles?"

Derek nodded, "It looks that way. Lucas and Bobbie are flying to Port Charles in a couple of days. Carly has them booked at the Metro Court in one of the suites indefinitely."

Alexis looked at him and said, "I hate that Bobbie has to deal with any fall-out from the trafficking ring, but my main concern is you."

Derek looked puzzled, "Why are you concerned about me?"

Alexis answered, "Sweetie, you were adamant last week that you didn't want Lucas to know you were his father. That would be a lot easier on you if he lived in Seattle. But when he is in Port Charles, especially if he moves to Port Charles, I'm not so sure you'll be able to keep up the facade that you don't want him to know."

"Facade?" Derek asked looking at mother and daughter.

"Yes, facade. If I didn't know you so well, I might have believed you. Unfortunately for you, I do know you. You and Sam need to figure out how you two want to approach this and when," Alexis told him.

Derek looked at Sam, "If Sam wants him to know, then he'll know, but I think we need to talk to Bobbie first. Just to make sure what Lucas knows about his family history."

"Honestly, I kind of hate to just spring all of this on Bobbie while she's dealing with whatever she has to deal with legally with regards to Kelly's. And I don't think I need to go up to Lucas and say, 'Hi, I'm the sister you didn't even know you had!' the night before his interview," Sam said sighing.

Alexis looked at her oldest daughter, "Sam, are you saying you've changed your mind about telling Lucas you are his biological half-sister?"

Sam shook her head, "No. I'm just saying I'm not going to greet him at the airport holding a sign that announces it. I think we need to wait to even talk to Bobbie until after her legal mess is over, and we need to wait to talk to Lucas after his interview. Both of their heads are probably spinning with all that is going on and I don't want to add to it. This isn't life or death. This isn't me looking for bone marrow for Danny. I want Lucas to do well in his interview. I don't want us to be a distraction."

"Lucas isn't a child, but what if Bobbie doesn't want him to know? What then?" Derek asked. "I doubt she'll object to you telling him you are his sister, but she might have an objection to me being in his life."

"Dad, we're a package deal. If she objects to you, she objects to me."


	50. Chapter 50

"Dad, we're a package deal. If she objects to you, she objects to me."

"Sam, I appreciate the sentiment, but I don't think you should keep yourself from meeting him if Bobbie objects to me."

"As it has been pointed out, Lucas is an adult. I don't think any of us should take the choice of whether or not to meet his biological family away from him. I mean as long as he knows he's adopted and he thinks both of his biological parents are dead. People reach out to children and sibling who were put up for adoption all the time. Most don't talk to the adoptive mother before making the contact either."

"So if Bobbie objects, you still want to tell him who we are?"

"Dad, I guess it depends on why she objects. I think we have to play it by ear."

As they talked about the many possible scenarios, Alexis's phone rang. She walked into the den area to answer while Derek and Sam continued to talk in hushed tones. Their conversation stopped cold when they heard Alexis say into her phone, "Oh hello Bobbie! It's good to hear from you! No of course I don't mind."

Both Derek and Sam stood watching as Alexis listened to whatever Bobbie was saying to her on the other end, taking notes. Alexis got out her calendar, "I'll try to help you in any way that I can. No, no that works I don't have anything scheduled then. No, not scheduled to appear in court at all, but I can certainly do so for you if you need. Okay, well call if you need to change anything else. I'll find out what I can and I hope I will have the pertinent information when we meet. You and Lucas have a safe flight. Okay see you then. Bye."

Sam and Derek asked in unison, "What was that about?"

Alexis smiled, "Bobbie was calling to put me on retainer to deal with the legal issues surrounding Kelly's."

"Mom, do you think that's a good idea? Couldn't it be a conflict of interest or something?"

"Bobbie needs an attorney to represent her. The government seized property that she owns. She needs my help to try to get it back. It would only be a conflict of interest if she was trying to get it back from one of you. It is simple legal stuff. I could do it in my sleep. It will be time consuming but not anything a first year law student couldn't help me do."

Derek asked, "So she has set up an appointment when she's in town."

Alexis nodded, "Yes, and from the sound of things, I'll be meeting with her more than once. And I hope you both remember that I cannot tell either of you anything she says in our meetings."

"Mom, I doubt Lucas's biology will come up in your meetings. I mean don't get me wrong, I hate that she is having to fly across the country because of Kelly's being involved in an international crime, but can we ask you about her mood? Whether you think she can handle it, handle us going, 'Hi! We're related to your son! Do you mind if we tell him?' with all of this going on?"

"I can possibly answer a question like that as her friend."

10 days later, Alexis had had several meetings with Bobbie. She had been able to find out that Lucas did indeed know all about his adoption and his biological parents Sam and Derek had managed to not run into either Bobbie or Lucas. Dates were set to appear in court, Kelly's had been seized by the federal government, so it was closed for business, guarded around the clock.

Derek was fixing dinner and talking to Sam and Danny when Alexis came in after work. "Bobbie's court date to try to get Kelly's back has been postponed until after the New Year. Lucas had interview and it went really well. Bobbie is pretty sure he'll get a spot here if he wants it. And she is considering moving back herself. Get back on with General Hospital and keep a closer eye on Kelly's, if she is able to get it re-opened."

"Any word on how long they'll be in Port Charles?" Sam asked her mother. "I just don't know if this is something we should spring on them before Christmas. I mean I want to tell them, I just don't know if it should be before or after Christmas."

"Bobbie said they are here for three more days. No word on when Lucas will be back here, but Bobbie will be back after the New Year and will be here until the legal stuff is taken care of regarding Kelly's."

Sam looked at her mother, "What do you think?"

"I say, we have them over for dinner and tell them. I'll tell Bobbie that I could not in good conscience continue to represent her in a legal matter without telling her about this knowledge we have about her son. You two tell Lucas that you will let him make the decision on whether or not to include you in his life. It is the truth. This is something that boy has probably never even dreamed about because he thought it impossible."

So they agreed. Alexis put in a call to Bobbie and invited them for dinner the next night. Derek took the day off of work and spent all day cooking and feeling like he might throw up. Sam and he had a glass of wine at 5:30 to take the edge off. When 6:00 arrived Lucas and Bobbie showed up with another couple of bottle of wine to thank them for their hospitality. They had an uneventful dinner and after dinner was finished, Alexis took the bull by the horns and said, "We wanted to invite you to dinner because we enjoy spending time with you both, and hope that if you both do end up in Port Charles, that maybe we can become btter friends. As your attorney, Bobbie, I feel like I am doing a disservice to you by not telling you that we have a connection that goes just beyond friendship."

Bobbie looked at her puzzled, "What? Something other than Stefan and our affection for Nikolas?"

Alexis looked at Derek and Sam and said, "Yes, other than them. In 1979, I had a relationship with a boy I met in New Hampshire while he was a student at Brown. His name was Julian Jerome. I became pregnant by him and gave birth to our daughter, Samantha. Sam and Lucas share a biological father."

Lucas and Bobbie's mouth dropped open. Sam rushed to add, "I decided I wanted to tell you to try to get to know you. Maybe be friends. I know we may never be close like some brothers and sisters but I thought maybe in your place I would want to know there was someone out there that shared my DNA. I will understand if you have no interest in getting to know me better."

Lucas stood up, walked over to her, hugged her, and said, "When I was little, especially after BJ died, I always dreamed that it would turn out that my biological parents had other kids. I missed being a little brother. I would like to get to know you and Danny better. Maybe get to be his favorite uncle?"

Derek felt like he was going to cry watching his son and his daughter together. It felt like a dream and then suddenly he felt like he was going to faint. My turn he thought and he cleared his throat and said, "There's more."

Bobbie and Lucas turned to him as did Sam, "I am not sure how to say this except to just say it. My name has not always been Derek Wells. Until March 16, 1990, my name was Julian Jerome. I didn't want that life anymore. I agreed to work with the feds and I changed my name and my appearance and my career choice. Lucas, I never knew about you, not until a few months ago. Bobbie I swear I am not trying to replace Tony or you in his life. I just happened to be the guy that gave him half of his DNA. You and Tony did all of the hard work. He doesn't need a father. Tony was his father. If he will let me, if you both will let me, I would like to be his friend. But I will understand if neither of you want anything to do with me. I will only ask that you not take out my past on Sam or Alexis."

Derek spent the next hour explaining to Bobbie and Lucas his decision to get out of the mob life. His life working with the feds, his life as a publishing giant, coming to Port Charles to help the feds stop Ava. Everything. He left out nothing, even lying to Alexis and Sam for several months and the heartbreak it had cause d them and him.

Lucas and Bobbie sat there processing everything when Alexis spoke up, "Lucas, Bobbie, I can assure you that he would not be sitting in my house telling you all of this if I thought he was still Julian. He hasn't been Julian for a long time. I know Julian was not always a good person, but I know Derek is. Or he tries to be. There is no one I respect more for turning his life around like I respect him. I know I am a little biased because I do love him, but I d not love anyone enough to allow them in my children's lives or my grandson's life if I thought he would endanger them. He would do anything for those he loves. He saved Danny's life, he got tested, and agreed to save Danny's life before he ever knew Danny was his grandson."

Bobbie said, "Do you swear on everything you hold dear that you really walked away from that life? That you would never try to pull my son into it?"

"Bobbie, I am the last person who would try to get Lucas in that life. If I ever heard he was thinking about it, you would be the first person I called."

Bobbie looked at Lucas, "Honey, it is up to you. I have no objection to whatever relationship you want to try to have with Derek or Sam."

Lucas nodded and said, "I would like to try to be your friend and Sam's. And maybe Danny's favorite uncle."

They talked for the next few hours promising phone calls, emails, texts, and lunch when Lucas was back in Port Charles. It wouldn't be as smooth as the relationship he had formed with Sam. By the time Sam found out she had already bonded with him, loved him. Lucas would be a harder sell, but it would be worth it.

Two nights later Derek's phone rang. Lucas had called to tell him he and his mother had arrived back in Seattle safely. He also told Derek that he had heard from General Hospital and would be moving there in the spring. He would probably be back before then to find a place to live, to be there for his mother if she needed him with all of the legal wrangling.

Derek hung up the phone and smiled at Alexis, "He is an amazing kid. Maybe the reason he and Sam turned out so well is I couldn't damage them by the time I found them."

"Derek, you sell yourself short. I think if given the opportunity, you would have been an amazing father."

"Well, I guess with you as a mother I couldn't have screwed Sam up too badly. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Thank you? Why are you thanking me?"

"You gave me an amazing daughter and she gave us the best little boy as a grandson. Every day I ask myself how I got so lucky. And I wonder if I should risk losing you by maybe pushing you too fast."

"Pushing too fast? Derek we have an adult daughter, and a grandson. With everything that has happened with us, we came out standing and together. I don't think there is a too fast with us. What are you talking about? You have been acting like you are up to something for days."

"I've just been wondering what you would say if I asked you to marry me."

"You've been wondering?"

"Yes, so what do you think? What would you say if I asked you to marry me?"

"As an attorney I always advise clients to never answer a question that hasn't been asked."

The next night at hastily called family dinner, Alexis and Derek announced that they were getting married. They had not yet set a date. They wanted to get through Christmas and not to take the spotlight off of Caroline and Lorenzo's wedding. They did know iot would be a destination wedding.

"Hawaii?" Sam guessed

"Paris?" Kristina offered.

"Vegas?" Molly asked, with a hint of mortification in her voice.

Derek and Alexis looked at their family smiled, and said in unison, "We're getting married in New Hampshire!"

The END.


End file.
